• Home
• About RFIDAA
• RFIDAA News
• Events
• Capability Directory
• Sponsors
• What is RFID?
• Articles/Downloads
• News & Links
  • RFID News Sources
  • Member's Websites
  • RFID Blogs
  • RFID Centres
  • Standards Organisations
• Join RFIDAA
• Members area
• Directors area
• Contact us

Australian Library & Information Association Conference

The Conference theme click06: 'Create, Lead, Innovate, Connect, Knowledge' deliberately challenges the norm; playing with words and sounds, and asks you to think about the library profession's role and responsibilities in coming years.

• Thursday 21 September, Theme: Knowledge
  

Abstract
The subject of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) standards is not well understood within the Australian library community. It is often not clear to which standard a particular vendor’s offering complies or even whether it complies. While the desirability of standards within the library RFID space is recognised, there exists significant misunderstanding regarding what benefit current standards actually confer. Unfortunately, this misunderstanding leads many library managers to believe that the current standards allow interoperability between systems which is actually not the case. During 2005 a working group (chaired by the author) was established under the auspices of Standards Australia to determine what would constitute an appropriate standard for an RFID data model for Australian libraries. The working group is composed of senior library professionals from Victoria, NSW, & Queensland, together with representatives from the publishing and RFID vendor communities. At the outset, the working group identified that one of its key functions would be to act as a resource within Australian libraries, where an acknowledged lack of understanding exists with regard to the critical issues involved. This paper will provide an update on the activities of the working group and convey the current status of Standards within the RFID space. The emphasis will be on imparting an understanding of the gap between the actual and the perceived benefits. The paper will also raise the awareness of the library community to the work of the standards group and, in so doing, provide a contact point for further discussion and support.

• Friday 22 September 2006,Theme: Innovation

11am Presentation: RFID & Privacy within Libraries – Myths, Misconceptions and The Future
_ Alan Butters, Chairman of Standard Australia Working Group IT-19-01-02 (RFID standards for libraries)

Abstract
No subject has so polarised libraries in recent years as the potential risk to personal privacy brought about by the introduction of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems. Particularly in the United States of America has the debate become fierce with lobby groups attempting to stop libraries migrating to this new technology.

It can be extremely difficult for Australian libraries to accurately gauge the risks to the privacy of their borrowers in the context of rhetoric which at times borders on the hysterical and is often misinformed. The RFID application space is vast and spans multiple technology platforms and standards of which libraries are but a small part. Observations made regarding one application are not necessarily valid in another application. The goal of this paper is to provide an overview of the perceived threats, to probe their technical feasibility and to present a clear picture of what may and may not be done by libraries to mitigate the risk that actually exists. The current RFID standards are also examined in the context of privacy and their limitations are weighed. The paper concludes by exploring what could be done in the future by commercial RFID vendors to maintain compatibility with standards while maximising the data security and therefore borrower privacy of their systems.

Back