Risk and reward

Most libraries contemplating the introduction of RFID – as with any other initiative – will probably require a business case to demonstrate:

Rationale

Libraries may wish to implement RFID for a variety of reasons: in some cases, they may be seeking to resolve problems with a specific building or element of service, while in others it may simply be a desire to modernize the service.

However, the overarching theme in most cases will probably be a desire to provide better customer service, whether through simpler and quicker transaction processes, longer opening hours, or improved stock management.

This in turn begins to define the applications for which RFID will be used – self-service, supply chain management, stock security and stocktaking, and so on.

Implementing RFID – the benefits

As we have seen, the main impetus behind the rapid adoption of RFID in libraries has been much less about the technology itself, and much more about what can be done with it. However, this also implies that there is much more that has to be done with it to achieve a useful outcome.

It would be perfectly possible simply to install RFID and sit back and wait for the benefits. Possible, but not advisable, as this implies a level of technological determinism that even Veblen might have found extreme. Installing a new technology like RFID cannot, by itself, provide a solution to all existing problems while automatically realizing all the benefits. Unless all of the processes affected have been thoroughly analysed beforehand, there is a strong likelihood that RFID will simply magnify all the shortcomings of the original approach, and none of the potential benefits will be found.