The Demonstrator
Although encoding rules of ISO/IEC 15962 are used in other sectors, this encoding method presents a radical change for the library community.
The encoding scheme is highly flexible and allows the user - typically the library management - to select which optional data elements are relevant for the RFID tag. The data elements can also be re-organised into a sequence that is appropriate for the particular library. Each tag does not need to encode the same data elements, so for example sets of loan items can carry different information from single items.
Because we are a responsible software company, we will delay offering implementation software to libraries and other end users until the ISO 28560 standard is approved in its final form. In the meantime, we have developed a demonstrator that provides a template to which prospective users of ISO 28560-2 can input real data to gain a better understanding of the flexibility that this new standard brings.
Once the data is entered and submitted to our central processor, a detailed encoding report will be produced and e-mailed back to the sender free-of-charge.
Try the demonstrator now.
The Software (Under Development)
Because ISO 28560-2 is still going through its ballot process, our software is still in a development stage and is not yet available commercially to libraries and other end users. However, the description below and the demonstrator on other pages is based on software that we have currently available for encoding data in the development version of the software that we are offering to vendors i.
The RFID in Libraries software comprises the three RFID Software tools (RFID Data Builder, RFID Data Doctor and Template Builder) tailored specifically to the ISO 28560-2 standard for RFID for libraries.
Purpose
The RFID in Libraries software tools are designed to:
- provide users, library suppliers and system suppliers with confidence that the most pertinent data can be stored on the chosen tag stock
- support different data configurations for different scenarios
- validate any combination of input data against:
- the ISO/IEC 15962 standard
- the ISO 28560-2 application standards
- locally defined rules in individual libraries for selecting optional data
- diagnose errors and inefficiencies on tags that were encoded using other software
- work standalone to provide an encoding simulation without the need of RFID tags
- integrate with the RFID system to provide an end-to-end solution
- be intuitive and easy to use
Key Features
The RFID in Libraries software tools have the following key features:
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The Template Builder module allows a library, or library book supplier, to create specific RFID encoding schemes for the complete collection, or subsets of the collection. Different templates can be used to meet different requirements, not only for loan items but also for reference items.
The Template Builder provides the user with a full list of all the data elements defined in ISO 28560, and enables those relevant for the template to be selected and re-organised into a logical sequence. If the most important elements are encoded in the first positions, then transaction time can be minimised, but when other, less essential, data is encoded on the tag that needs to be read, this can be specifically selected.
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The RFID Data Builder allows any of the templates to be selected either as an input form or integrated with the Library Management System or some other database.
The RFID Data Builder takes the data that is meaningful for the library application, and encodes it on a memory structure equivalent to that of the selected tag. If a particular library item does not require all the data, a data element can be skipped and the encoding process simply takes the input provided and shows what is encoded on the tag. In a real environment, this data will be transferred to the RFID interrogator to be written into the tag memory.
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The RFID Data Doctor addresses situations where data might not always encoded correctly. This module takes as input the complete encoding on the RFID tag and not only decodes its content into meaningful data, but also identifies errors that are not compliant with ISO/IEC 15962 and those of ISO/IEC 28560.
The RFID Data Decoder is a streamlined version of the RFID Data Doctor for use as a standard decoder of all selected data encoded on the RFID tag.
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