RFID in Libraries: Revision

Background and Problem Statement

In January 2008, NISO formally published the Recommended Practice, RFID in U.S. Libraries (NISO RP-6-2008). This document addresses the implementation of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) of books and other materials in United States libraries. The Working Group had broad representation of those who would use and be affected by this Recommended Practice, including RFID hardware manufacturers, solution providers (software and integration), library RFID users, book jobbers and processors, and related organizations.

That same month, a new ISO ballot was sent to ISO member countries for the approval of a new ISO TC46 Committee Draft International Standard in three parts.

During the development of the NISO Recommended Practice and the ISO draft standard, the NISO Working Group was in close contact with the international group that developed the above standard in an effort to keep the two documents in synch as much as possible.

The ISO standard is in the final stages of development, with final publication expected in late 2010. In order to ensure that the NISO Recommended Practice is up to date and provides United States implementers of RFID tags in libraries with sufficient guidance to conform with the ISO work, a revision of the NISO Recommended Practice is necessary.

This new work was approved by the Content & Collection Management Topic Committee in February 2010. The working group first met in April 2010. The revised document NISO RP-6-2012 was published in March 2012.

RFID Revision Charge

See the full original work item proposal at: http://groups.niso.org/apps/group_public/document.php?document_id=3425&wg_abbrev=ccm

Project Goals

• Examine the details of (soon to be approved) ISO 28560-1 and ISO 28560-2 standards to identify the conflicts between the NISO Recommended Practice and the ISO standards. Suggest ways to improve the conformance between the NISO Recommended Practice and the ISO standard.
• Examine the details of ISO 28560-3 and make recommendations regarding its use (or lack thereof) in the USA.
• Examine the data model in the ISO standard to see which optional elements in the model should be made “highly desirable” in the USA implementations.
• Interpret some aspects of the ISO standard by providing USA-specific examples to make implementations easier for manufacturers and libraries.

Specific Deliverables and Objectives

• Produce a new version of the NISO Recommended Practice document with a possible title of RFID Systems in US Libraries and Conformance with the ISO 28560 Standard. The Recommended Practice will include:
  • A checklist (for libraries and vendors) that can be used to evaluate the degree of conformance with the ISO 28560.
  • A set of recommend practices and procedures to insure interoperability among US RFID implementations.
  • A list of suggestions to reduce the impact of migrating from non-conforming systems to conforming systems or running with “mixed” tag systems (older tags and newer conforming tags).
• Help in the promulgation of this information by making presentations at various library conferences and through NISO Webinars.