Cynthia

I have taken the liberty of copying this to the US and UK RFID lists - I
hope that doesn't offend any protocols?

Good to see the argument for data standards being made so strongly. I hope
the US can help encourage full compliance rather than merely the partial
interoperability currently on offer in other markets. The UK and US
recommendations appear to differ only in regard to our mandatory requirement
for ISIL, which is reassuring :-)

Thanks too for including the link to the UK data model.

Best wishes

Mick

Mick Fortune       
m. +44 (0)7786 625544 

Make your voice heard in the public library debate!


-----Original Message-----
From: A general Library and Information Science list for news and
discussion. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Cynthia Hodgson
Sent: 12 May 2011 17:57
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: NISO Revised Recommended Practice for RFID in U.S. Libraries
Available for Public Comment

NISO announces the availability of RFID in U.S. Libraries (NISO RP-6-201x)
for a thirty day public comment period, beginning immediately and ending on
June 9, 2011. This revision of the 2008 Recommended Practice recommends a
set of practices and procedures to ensure interoperability among U.S. RFID
implementations in libraries. By following these recommendations, libraries
can ensure that an RFID tag in one library can be used seamlessly by
another, even if they have different suppliers for tags, hardware, and
software.
 
Since the publication of the original Recommended Practice, there have been
new developments with regard to RFID implementation in the larger book
industry as well as in other countries. Most importantly, the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published a three-part
international standard on RFID in Libraries (ISO 28560) governing the data
model and the encoding of data on RFID tags for item management in
libraries. The revised NISO Recommended Practice has been updated to reflect
changes in technology and security and privacy measures, and to conform to
the new ISO standard.
 
"RFID in U.S. Libraries defines a model for the data elements to be placed
on library RFID tags, as well as the formatting and encoding of that data,"
explains Paul Sevcik, Lead Product Development Specialist at 3M Library
Systems and co-chair of the NISO RFID Revision Working Group. "The
international standard offers two different encoding options and many
optional data elements, so it is critical that U.S. implementers adopt a
common approach for implementing the standard."
 
"This Recommended Practice has been developed to be the U.S. profile for
implementation of the ISO 28560 international standard" states Vinod
Chachra, CEO of VTLS, Inc. and co-chair of the NISO RFID Revision Working
Group. "Its use will ensure that U.S. libraries can procure tags and
equipment from different vendors, merge collections containing different
manufacturers' tags, and, for the purposes of interlibrary loan, read the
tags on items belonging to other libraries."
 
"This revision included input from RFID hardware manufacturers, solution
providers (software and integration), content distributors and libraries,"
said Todd Carpenter, NISO Managing Director. "In addition to the data model,
the Recommended Practice provides guidelines on security, privacy,
vandalism, and migrating existing library RFID implementations to the new
model. Standardizing on this Recommended Practice will allow the RFID tag to
be used in the entire lifecycle of physical library materials, including the
upstream processes of acquisition and distribution."
 
The draft Recommended Practice and an online comment form is available at:
www.niso.org/workrooms/rfid/. Libraries, publishers, distributors, system
providers, and tag manufacturers are all encouraged to review and comment on
the document.
 
 
Cynthia Hodgson
NISO Technical Editor Consultant
National Information Standards Organization
Email: [log in to unmask]
Phone: 301-654-2512