A Report on NISO s work on RFID Standards

A Report on NISO’s work on RFID Standards in Libraries ALA Meeting, San Antonio, Jan 2006 Dr. Vinod Chachra Chairman, NISO Working Group on Library Applications of RFID CEO, VTLS Inc.

VTLS Products Main VTLS Products Other VTLS Products New Product ERM System Related to Virtua: 1. FRBR 2. URL Checker 3. SRU/SRW 4. Union Catalogs and Consortium Databases 5. Aqua Browser and other partner products Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

VTLS is the first spin-off corporation from Virginia Tech VTLS does business in 36 countries VTLS has been working with RFID solutions for libraries for over eight years with many customers VTLS RFID library management software is now RFID hardware and tag supplier independent. www. vtls. com Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

Goals of NISO Working Group • Identify specific NISO activities or standards that would make the application of RFID technology most effective for its community • Identify related standards work where NISO might partner • Identify points where RFID issues could be integrated within other NISO standards work Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

NISO Working Group Following types of organizations are participating in the working group: 1. RFID hardware manufacturers 2. RFID solution providers (software and integration) 3. RFID Library users 4. Book jobbers/ book processors 5. Other related organizations Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

Focus of NISO Working Group • RFID solutions run at several frequencies – Low – from 125 KHz to 134 KHz High – 13. 56 MHz Ultra High – 860 -960 MHz Micro Wave – 2. 45 GHz • NISO’s work is limited to Tags used in libraries – that is, tags operating at 13. 56 MHz Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

Focus of NISO Working Group Four issues of importance were identified: 1. Privacy Issues and concerns 2. Support of functional capabilities 3. Performance efficiency 4. Cost considerations (total cost of ownership) Items 2 , 3 and 4 are linked and interdependent. Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

First of Two Objectives Interoperability (from Whatis. com) Interoperability (pronounced IHN-tuhr-AHP-uhr-uh-BIHL-ih-tee) is the ability of a system or a product to work with other systems or products without special effort on the part of the customer. Interoperability becomes a quality of increasing importance for information technology products as the concept that "The network is the computer" becomes a reality. For this reason, the term is widely used in product marketing descriptions. Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

First of Two Objectives How is interoperability achieved? (whatis. com) Products achieve interoperability with other products using either or both of two approaches: • By adhering to published interface standards • By making use of a "broker" of services that can convert one product's interface into another product's interface "on the fly”. The first option is preferred. Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

First of Two Objectives Interoperability 1. For RFID tags: a. A tag from one library used in another (ILL) b. Tags from different suppliers used in same library c. Tags placed in materials by book vendors usable by library 2. For RFID Hardware: a. Hardware from one vendor reads tags from another. b. Security gates from one vendor reads tags from another c. Sortation systems can handle tags from multiple sources d. Secure data from one library not modified by another 3. Interoperability over time from same supplier Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

Second of Two Objectives Isolation • More specifically, Vertical Application Isolation • We do not want CDs purchased at a store to trigger library security gates and library books to set off alarms at grocery stores. • Application Family Identifiers (AFI) may be useful here Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

Approach taken by WG • Examine existing standards; Adopt what can be adopted • Examine existing data models • Address the four issues previously mentioned keeping the objectives in mind • Decide next step(s) if any. Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

Applicable Standards • ISO/IEC 15511: 2003 Information and Documentation – International Standard Identifier for Libraries and Related Organisations (ISIL). • ISO/IEC 15961: 2004 Information Technology – Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for Item Management – Data Protocol: Application Interface. ISO/IEC 15962: 2004 Information Technology – Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for Item Management – Data Protocol: Data Encoding Rules and Logical Memory Functions. • ISO/IEC 18000: 2004 Information Technology AIDC Techniques – RFID for Item Management – Air Interface: Part 3 – Parameters for Air Interface Communications at 13. 56 MHz. • ANSI/NISO Z 39. 83 – 2002 Circulation Interchange. Part 1: Protocol (NCIP) Part 2: Protocol Implementation Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

ISO 18000 Standards 18000 -1 Part 1 – Generic Parameters for the Air Interface for Globally Accepted Frequencies 18000 -2 Part 2 – Parameters for Air Interface Communications below 135 k. Hz 18000 -3 Part 3 – Parameters for Air Interface Communications at 13. 56 MHz 18000 -4 Part 4 – Parameters for Air Interface Communications at 2. 45 GHz 18000 -5 Part 5 – Parameters for Air Interface Communications at 5. 8 GHz (Withdrawn) 18000 -6 Part 6 – Parameters for Air Interface Communications at 860 to 930 MHz 18000 -7 Part 7 – Parameters for Air Interface Communications at 433 MHz Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

Scope of ISO 18000 -3 “The scope of the ISO 18000 -3 standard is to provide Physical Layer, Collision management System and Protocol Values for RFID Systems for Item Identification operating at 13. 56 MHz in accordance with the requirements of ISO 18000 -1” Some library vendors say they are ISO 18000 or ISO 18000 -1 compliant instead of the more specific ISO 18000 -3 compliant, but they mean the same thing. Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

ISO 15693 The ISO 15693 specification has three main parts: Physical characteristics Signal Interface and Transmission Protocol It holds the promise of interoperability (at the technical level as mentioned by Alastair Mc. Arthur, Tag. Sys) among different suppliers of RFID solutions ISO 15693 is not to be confused with ISO 15963 which is used for RFID for Item Management - Unique Identification of RF Tag Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

Privacy Concerns • Proper caution and concern raised by some privacy advocates • Exaggerated concerns raised by some librarians • Issue is very sensitive for it can -- potentially cause privacy problems and/or -- possibly derail or slow down RFID implementations and/or -- add to the implementation costs • Organizations like BISG, EFF and American Library Association are providing leadership in this area. Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

Book Industry Study Group (BISG) RFID Privacy Principles (This is a direct quote from the BISG web site) All businesses, organizations, libraries, educational institutions and nonprofits that buy, sell, loan, or otherwise make available books and other content to the public utilizing RFID technologies shall: 1) Implement and enforce an up-to-date organizational privacy policy that gives notice and full disclosure as to the use, terms of use, and any change in the terms of use for data collected via new technologies and processes, including RFID. 2) Ensure that no personal information is recorded on RFID tags which, however, may contain a variety of transactional data. Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

Book Industry Study Group (BISG) 3) Protect data by reasonable security safeguards against interpretation by any unauthorized third party. 4) Comply with relevant federal, state , and local laws as well as industry best practices and policies. 5) Ensure that the four principles outlined above must be verifiable by an independent audit. This policy has been developed and released by the Book Industry Study Group in cooperation with the American Library Association (ALA) Office of Information Technology and the Office for Intellectual Freedom, as well as the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

Potential exposure from ILS In my opinion there is potentially greater exposure from ILS systems than from RFID systems (see white paper “Personal Privacy and Use of RFID Technology in Libraries” at WWW. VTLS. COM) This exposure comes when circulation links between book and patron are not erased in order to a. gather library statistics b. record unpaid fines c. provide “value added services” d. support recovery functions Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

RFID function related concerns Functions supported by RFID systems in libraries • Self Checkouts including bulk checkouts • Checkins and book drops • Security functions (EAS Gates) • Sortation functions • Inventory functions So what data should be placed on the tag? Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

Other concerns How much data should be placed on the RFID tags? There are two schools of thought -1. As little as possible (just an ID) 2. More in support of efficiency & performance - security data - sorting and shelving data - last use data for weeding and inventory - book title for finding lost books or for checkouts 3. The more the data the slower the tag read! Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

The Danish Data Model It is an RFID data model for libraries. It deals only with materials and not with patron identification. The data model has four parts: 1. Data elements 2. Values and range 3. Encoding and 4. Physical mapping. Click here to read the model Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

Danish Model - Encoding Original Recommendation: “The encoding of RFID tags is a delicate job. The space available in a tag is still rather limited for the cost conscious buyer and vendor. …. Coding will with a few exceptions be 8 bit coding using ISO 8859 -1 (latin 1)” Final Recommendation: “The working group has had long discussions on whether to choose ISO 8859 -1 or UTF-8. The conclusion … UTF-8” Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

Danish Model – Data Elements 1. Metadata elements 2. Item data elements 3. Library data elements 4. Application data elements 5. Supplier data elements A. Mandatory Data Block Example: Version, Type of usage, Number of parts in item, part number, primary ID, CRC, Country, Owning library code B. Structured Extension Data Block C. Unstructured Extension Data Block Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

Danish Model – Security 1. Using Application Family Identifier (AFI) a. Need two identifiers b. One for “checked in” items and another for “checked out”. c. This method is common to ISO 15693 -3 tags. 2. Using non-AFI based methods a. EAS bit method 1. Records a single bit on tag 2. Detection system checks code 3. If code indicates “checked in” alarm goes off b. Other methods 3. Using either/both methods automatically means no interoperability Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

NISO WG and the Danish Model • Copy of the data model is available on the internet • NISO working group is now studying the data model to see if – The model meets the needs of USA RFID applications – The models meets the needs of USA applications with some modifications – A new model will have to be developed to meet our needs. • Based on the outcome of the study a course of action for the future will be defined. • The timetable for this is approximately six months – ending in April 2006. Visionary Technology in Library Solutions

Thanks • Happy to take questions Visionary Technology in Library Solutions