RFID labels ‘hit the books’ for asset tracking and more at Marseille’s libraries
In one of its biggest projects yet, ASK is providing C.labels for use in the libraries in Marseille, France. It has already shipped 1.7 million C.labels to Marseille’s 17 public libraries. Working with its partners, Cybernetix and Tyco/Sensormatic France for the Electronic Article Surveillance anti-theft system, ASK has deployed an end-to-end RFID Automated Library Management System. The library uses the new system based on the C.label to manage, track, and secure its entire inventory of more than 1.5 million items. All assets, such as books, CDs, audiocassettes, videocassettes, and DVDs will have a C.label.
Here’s how it works. Each of the library system’s 150,000 borrowers has a contactless C.ticket card from ASK. These customers can borrow or return assets within a split second just putting down the pile of items and the card on the reader, a self-service terminal developed by ASK. The ASK C.label system is fast and can complete transactions for 100 assets within one second, setting a new standard for high-speed contactless RFID technology, according to ASK. This C.label also has an anti-fraud function to prevent theft. An anti-theft detection gate at the exit with a one-meter read range will detect items that have not been checked out and an alarm will be activated.
Another use of the system is inventory control. Entire shelves can be rapidly scanned to find or log individual items. This is useful for taking inventory, finding missing items and identifying misfiled items, a common and labor-intensive problem to correct in a library. The high speed of the contactless transactions between the C.scan reader and C.label makes this a very fast operation; a librarian can scan an entire shelf at normal walking speed, says the company.
“A library is an ideal place to debut our new smart paper C.label, because the benefits are clear and the demands on the technology are high,” says Xavier Bon, vice president sales and marketing for ASK. “There is a clear productivity gain for the libraries with labor reductions and reduced losses due to theft and errors. It also provides better service for library users by speeding up checkouts. At the same time, it rigorously exercised the contactless C.label technology, requiring the rapid and accurate scanning of many smart tags in close proximity.”