Mike,
Some time ago I was peripherally involved with a pilot project between the Fitzwilliam
Museum and a company called Hypertag.
I believe that the product was originally developed to provide visitors to trade
exhibitions with location-sensitive information through a PDA equipped to read RFID
tags.
In the Fitzwilliam pilot, RFID tags were attached to object labels. The PDA software
called the tag ID, and used it to reference browser-based content about the object,
which it then displayed on the PDA screen.
The obvious weak link is the need for people to have appropriately-equipped PDA's.
However, I believe that the development path was to enable interaction with 3G
phones, though I'm not sure where this got to.
The uses for collections-management are, as you suggest, very interesting.
However, I have a feeling that the software would have to get at least as stable as,
say, that of the handheld units which shops use for inventory control before it
became a viable option.
Best regards,
Nick Poole
On 15 Oct 2004 at 14:15, Mike Stapleton wrote:
> Colleagues,
>
> I note in a recent news article that the Vatican Library is a fair way
> in to a project to tag 2 million or so books in its collection with
> RFID tags. The original aim was to speed up the annual inventory
> process - expected to reduce the time taken for the task from a month
> to a day.
>
> It's a technology where the costs are expected to drop rapidly.
> Is anyone planning or carrying out such a project in the UK or
> is it anathema to consider sticking RFID tags to objects.?
>
> The technology would dovetail very nicely with procedures for
> Inventory Control, Location and Movement Control, Audit, Use,
> Loans out (for handling kits) etc
>
> Mike Stapleton
> System Simulation
Nick Poole
Director
Mda
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