[Publib] RFID selection and implementation

[BJohnson at ci.bedford.tx.us]

We are a medium-sized public library investigating various aspects of an
RFID implementation, and welcome information and suggestions regarding
vendors, implementation issues, etc.  Our collection size is just over
102,000 items, annual circ is about 407,000, our building is 17,000 sq. ft
and we have 16.45 FTE.

General questions
What is the name of your library?
What is the size of your collection?
What is your annual circulation?
How many FTE do you have in Circ?
How many FTE do you have in Tech Services?
What ILS system do you use?

RFID Review Team
Did you have an RFID Review Team?
Did you have other departments represented?
Were any Library Advisory Board, FOL or Council invited to vendor
demonstrations?
How did you determine your library was ready to implement the RFID based on
usage?
Did you have a ROI tool to assist with your Cost Benefit Analysis?

RFID Vendors
Has your library implemented 3M or Checkpoint RFID? Why did you choose one
vendor over another?
If you chose another RFID vendor, who was it and why did you make that
choice?

RFP Issued
Who wrote your RFP? (Consultant, IT Department, Library Staff)
Did you require that the equipment be UL Listed?
Were there any specifications included that caused a vendor to decide
against submitting a bid?
Were you required to accept the lowest bid?

Re-tagging collection
Please describe how you handled the re-tagging of your collection.
What problems, if any, did you encounter?
How many items per hour on average can you re-tag?

Check in/Check out by staff
How many items have staff found they can reliably run over the RFID reader
and have a successful checkout?
Do you have issues with specific types of materials?  If so, please
describe.

Self-Check stations
Do you have self-check stations?  If so, how many?
Where are they located?
After self-check implementation, how many Circ desk staff members do you
continue to staff at the Circ desk?
What strategies did you employ to entice patrons to begin using self-check
stations?
What is your rate of self-check usage compared to checkout at the Circ desk
with a staff member?
If you use Checkpoint, do you use their Discmate unlocker at your
Self-Check stations?  What has been your experience?
Do you have a self pick-up holds shelf?  Do you place AV on it?  What are
the pros and cons?

RFID book returns
Do you have an RFID book return?  How well does it work?
What is your average rate of misreads?
How well does the book return catch holds?
What other problems have you encountered?

Read/Write or Write-Only Capabilities
What is your view of the pros and cons of these two capabilities?

Patron wait times at a staffed Circ Desk
Please share any stats on your average patron wait times prior to and after
implementation of RFID.

Staffing
Have you been able to re-deploy Circ staff to other Circ duties or other
library duties?
How have you re-used staff?

Acceptance by Stakeholders
Please describe any difficulties you had in gaining support and acceptance
of RFID with your stakeholders (upper city management, city council,
library board, staff, public, etc.)

Barcodes
Do you still put a separate printed barcode on the exterior of your items
for ease in quickly locating materials?
Do you have the barcode printed on the RFID tag?  Why did you make the
choice you did?

Hub tags
Do you use hub tags on DVDs and CDs?
If so, do you use a hub tag on every disc in a multiple volume Book on CD
set?
If you started using hub tags, did you stop using locking cases for DVDs or
CDs?
Do you know if using cleaning/scratch removal devices from RTI or Azuradisc
has any negative effect on the hub tags?

Technical Services Issues
How has the use of RFID tags changed the way in which you catalog or
process library materials?
Did you experience any need for a change in your level of tech services
staffing?
Do you have your book vendor program and apply RFID tags?  How has that
worked for you?
How have you handled tagging magazines?  Board books?

Please relate any other important information, lessons learned or best
practices in selecting an RFID vendor or in implementing RFID in your
library.  If you have done an RFP for an RFID system and have an electronic
version of that document that you can share please send it to us.

Responses to any or all questions is most appreciated.

Thanks,
Barbara

Barbara Glassford Johnson, MLS
Technical Services Manager
Bedford Public Library
1805 L. Don Dodson Dr.
Bedford, TX  76021
817-952-2360
817-952-2396 (fax)
bjohnson at ci.bedford.tx.us