Following news on the use of RFID Tags in Pune University Library might be interesting. Someone from Pune University can post a comprehensive paper on RFID installation & usage for the benefit of others. ========== TAGS TO KEEP TABS Business Standard At Pune University's Jayakar library, members don't return books to a librarian or register the books they borrow at a counter behind which the librarian sits. He or she simply places a smart card on one of the three "readers" or devices in the library and the books are automatically registered in his or her account. Half the 4.25 lakh documents, books and periodicals in the library have an electronic label that costs Rs 50 pasted on them. In addition, two electronically monitored antennae have been set up at the library's entrance and exit. If a book is unauthorisedly sneaked out of the library, a buzzer sounds at the entrance. To be sure, books can still be pilfered. Says S K Patil, head of Pune University's library and information science department: "If someone tears off the page of the document where the electronic label is fixed, there is little we can do. The technology is akin to installing a large padlock on one's door. If a thief enters the house through the window, the robbery cannot be averted." The technology in question, introduced at the library in August this year, is Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Many say that not much RFID work has taken place here. Poppycock, we say. Sure, RFID is still in its infancy. But consider the following: - The Chitale Dairy at Bhiwladi in Maharashtra's Sangli district has installed RFID to monitor the feeding patterns of cattle and bison. An electronic tag is attached to the neck of cattle for this purpose. - Pantaloon Retail India is in discussions with Wipro on introducing RFID at its Tarapore factory for the next two months. If the pilot project helps save costs, the retail major will give Wipro the go ahead for implementing the technology in phases, starting with its warehouse at Tarapore. Says Chinar Deshpande, chief information officer, Pantaloon Retail India: "Suppliers will have to become RFID-compliant eventually, if the technology is to be implemented for individual items. But, unlike Wal-Mart, we cannot force this technology on suppliers as the Indian retail supply market is not that mature. For now, it will be implemented only for Pantaloon's in house manufacturing and warehousing." - Nearly 45 colleges in Pune that fall under the three deemed universities or education trusts, including the R P Vidyapeeth, D Y Patil Prathisthan and Maharashtra Academy of Engineering, and the Baroda-based Babaria Institute of Technology, have introduced student identity RFID cards that allow students access to hostels and monitor their classroom attendance. Each student will swipe his card at a reader to record his attendance. Attendance data can be uploaded on the Internet and accessed by parents. "For the hostel, a turnstile gate can be set up at which students will swipe cards. At the press of a button, the number of students there as well as visitors to the hostel can be found out," notes Aashim A Patil, CEO of the Pune-based Infotek Software & Systems, which supplied RFID software to the Pune University library and to the other educational institutes in Maharashtra. sent in by======================================== Dr.P.Vyasamoorthy, Advisor, Virtual Information Centre, ICICI Knowledge Park, Genome Valley, Turkapally, Shameerpet Mandal, RR District, Hyderabad 500078 INDIA Email: vyasamoorthy@icicikp.com Phone - Office: +91(40)23480053 Fax: +91(40)23480007 Phone Residence: +91(40)27846631