RFID for Archives: Or "Why QR Codes Are Becoming So Appealing As An Alternative"

As the world becomes increasingly faster in pace and larger in scale, new technological advances are being developed to keep track of the grand amount of records, supplies, and movements that make modern Western life possible. Perhaps one of the most promising—and equally threatening—is radio frequency identification (RFID), which utilizes the basic principles of reception and transmission of radio waves with every smaller microchips to easily identify and monitor large numbers of items in a short amount of time. Such technology has already been adopted by entities such as the U.S. Department of Defense and Wal-Mart to track their inventories, thereby ensuring that theft, misplacement, or loss of goods either does not take place or can be found quickly if such an occurrence does happen. The promise of this technology for archival professionals is that the inventorying and tracking of large amounts of archival materials, especially those in large archival collections for which item-level listing may be impossible. While there are a number of questions as to the beneficence for archives, RFID technology could be in the near future the way that many large and medium archives track their archival collections in storage.

RFID is defined as “a generic term for a set of technologies that use radio frequency (RF) to communicate data (a central component of which is an identity—specifically, a unique number)” (Resource #1). RFID systems consist of three main parts: an RFID tag, a reader, and the software for the system. An RFID tag is a small microchip with a radio antenna; these chips have a memory capacity to store identification data about the item with which the tag is partnered. Such tags are “read” by individuals through radio communication with a reader—a device having an antenna, transmitter, receiver, microprocessor, and memory storage capability that can make a contactless communication with the antenna of RFID tags (a PDA is an example of a reader). There can be portable readers such as PDAs (for manual checks) or stationary readers (which look like external harddrives) that are positioned throughout a room, emitting a continuous flow of information from the tags to a computer. The software allows the reader to process the information received and stored from the tags in a manner and framework which will be understandable to humans (Resource #2).

There are three varieties of RFID tags: active, passive, and semi-active. Active tags contain a silicone chip with a basic radio communication system present (an antenna and receiver), as well as an “on-board power source” (most often a battery) which keeps the tag “active” in order to continually transmit data to a reader. The read distance for active tags can be 100 feet or more, depending on the design of the tag. This type of tag is perhaps the least acceptable for use in archives due to the presence of a power source which—in contact with papers—could pose a potential danger to paper-based archival items. All tags whose data is programmed by a reader are said to have been “created” by the reader; additionally, when a created tag has had its data associated with a particular item, the tag is said to be “commissioned” (Resource #3).

Passive tags are so labeled because they do not have batteries; rather, they receive power through their antenna from the reader and do not send information unless a reader’s signal activates the tag. Because there are no moving parts within this tag, they are expected to have very long life spans and capable of resistant extreme conditions. Experiments have shown passive tags can resist corrosion from chemicals and can function well even at temperatures as high as 400°F. Due to their endurance and inertness to materials, passive tags would serve as the most appropriate for use in archives (though their read distance is much shorter than active tags—anywhere from less than an inch to 30 feet). Semi-active tags use an on-board power supply to function for specialized purposes, while they can only transmit data by activation through the power of a reader. These tags can be read from a maximum distance of 100 feet (Resource #4).

RFID tags—like CDs—can be either read-only, write-once (R) or re-writable (RW). Read-only tags can have their memory programmed by the manufacturer or by the user once with the data for the item to be associated with each tag. While that is true in theory, in practice read-only tags can actually be re-programmed or re-written several times. Read-write tags (RW) can be read-write or reprogrammed anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 times (sometimes even more). These are the most expensive type of tag to make; they are also the least technologically secure, and as such are perhaps the least recommended for use in archives. In the future as the technology improves and production costs decrease, RW tags may become more of an option for archives (Resource #5).

RFID readers come in many variations, depending on the designer of the system and the uses for the system. Also known as “interrogators” (because they interrogate the information from the tags), readers are considered as the “central nervous system" of the RFID hardware (Resource #6). Readers operate within a “read zone,” the radius within which the radio transmitters of the tags can be picked up by a reader. The reader transmits AC power from its power source through the antenna to the tags, with the result being a transfer of data from the tags’ microprocessors. There are two types of readers based on their interface communication connections to a computer: 1) serial readers, which must be connected to computer’s serial port utilizing a cable; 2) network readers, which can communicate with a computer used both a cable and a wireless connection (network readers are almost identical to wireless network readers for standard network connections). Readers are further divided in to handheld and stationary readers. Stationary readers can be mounted on walls, doorways, or even moving objects (fork lifts, moving shelves, etc.) that are within the read zone; stationary readers are less expansive than portable readers typically, yet they need external antennas added. One version of a stationary reader is a RFID tag printer, which is capable of printing combination bar code/RFID tag labels. Portable readers, most commonly PDAs, contain internal antennas and can be passed over the items in a continuous motion—without line of sight to the tags. Portable readers can also exist in a similar form to those used in grocery stores to inventory stock. Portable readers’ effectiveness depends on their antenna signal strength, their battery life, and the size of memory (Resource #7).

Currently, RFID tags are used mainly for tracking and for inventorying. Tracking purposes include sub-dermal tagging (medical, child tracking, and animal tracking), security access cards, an anti-theft mechanism for merchandise in stores, marathons, airline baggage tags, and EZ-Pass and FasTrak road passes for cities like Chicago. Information about the item or person being tagged can be stored in the chip and retrieved through scanning. For inventorying, Wal-Mart, Target, and the U.S. Department of Defense are the first to use RFID tag inventories on a large scale. These organizations use RFID as a means of knowing where shipments are in-transit, rather than only knowing when they leave and arrive at their locations; thus, when inventories are being taken, they can include those items being shipped (Resource #8).

RFID systems have found their way actively into museums, and as a sideline into a number of libraries across America. An interactive science museum in San Francisco experimented with an RFID system labeled “eXspot” (due to the X-shaped readers positioned at exhibits) between 2002 and 2005. This museum used small cards or necklaces with embedded RFID tags which visitors could carry around and place on the stationary readers. The visitor’s RFID tag would relay pre-written exhibit information to a personal webpage for the visitor on the museum’s website; the purpose of the webpage is to provide the visitor with information on visited exhibits that they would enjoy exploring at will at home, with the ability to see photos of the exhibit items and show their family and friends. RFID is said to enhance the museum experience by allowing the individual to personalize their trip and learn what they want to learn, saving for later recall information and experiences that they would like to further investigate on their own. The Cleveland Museum of Art, one of the United States most prestigious art museums, will be using RFID technology in their exhibits in 2010 after a multi-year renovation project (Resource #9).

Libraries across the country have quickly become the most active users of RFID in the non-profit sector. California State University Library (Long Beach), UNLV Library, San Francisco Public Library, Berkeley (CA) Public Library, University of Connecticut libraries, New York Public Library, and North Canton (OH) Public Library are a few of the many libraries to be utilizing this new technology for inventorying shelved library books. Tags—replacing self-adhesive metal strips previously used in books—are placed in books checked out in pairs of 5-10 on radio frequency pads at the front desk. Inventories can be performed with portable readers shelf-by-shelf, saving time, money, and alerting librarians when books are out of place on a shelf. Robert Ferrari of California State University Library (Long Beach) states that “. . . ‘they had never performed an extensive inventory prior to having RFID. Now he inventories 5000 books per hour. The first time they did a partial inventory, Ferrari found 300 items they had recorded as lost or missing’” (Resource #10). UNLV Library estimated a savings of $40,000 for not having to replace about 500 materials previously believed to be lost.

RFID is now being discussed for use in archives, and has been implemented by records managers in various fields. The potential use for RFID in archives could be in placing passive RFID tags (the safest for use around archival materials) either on archival boxes or individual folders. This would enable archives to monitor through a reader the locations of various collections or folders from a collection within the storage area and reading room, as well as employee work area. The benefit would come in greatly reducing the chances of misplacing materials, misarranging collections, and ensuring that patrons and employees do not leave the archives with any collections or folders without permission. RFID readers can be set to alert someone when materials are being taken beyond a designated zone, or when certain rare or “high-level” materials are being used in locations where they should not be kept. Security, user records, and collection inventorying can all be improved with minimal intrusion to archival materials, especially since RFID does not require line-of-sight to read tags (useful for medium to large archives). As of yet, however, many archives—including the National Archives—are holding off utilizing RFID tags until the technology improves, security issues can be addressed successfully, and the cost-benefit of changing inventory systems can all be improved (Resource #11).

Records management benefits from RFID as “RIM professionals using RFID now have the ability to actually check files out—and back in—to users with no intermediation. They also can track and monitor files and records with extreme accuracy, not only within the room but throughout the entire facility” (Resource #12). A law firm dealing with patent law began an RFID system from Checkpoint Systems, Inc. in 1999 to manage its 12,000 files and growing, with the result of a great amount of time saved and legal research moving faster. Since records management deals with active materials, passive RFID tags would more immediately benefit RM rather than archives, at least until more archives-friendly adhesive labels and tags are developed. They would be especially beneficial for government record keepers, who are tasked with trying to keep track of lack numbers of records which are continually being utilized (Resource #13).

While RFID technology poses a huge benefit to archives, there are some serious difficulties to the implementation of the technology in archives. As with all new computer-based innovations, technological theft can be a potential hurdle as—theoretically—anyone with a reader and the right software can find where all the “rare” archival materials are located. Also in the realm of possibility is the ability of a person with a reader to re-program the RFID tags on archival boxes or folders. New protocols, algorithms, and codes are being instituted to protect this from happening, however the technology must catch up with the propensity for misuse of RFID before it can be feasible for archives to invest in it (Resource #14).

A second concern with RFID is the labels utilized for the tags: the adhesives of the tags could damage archival materials through off-gassing. Additionally, the labels’ adhesive could fail with time, or the labels could be pulled off of the archival boxes or folders accidentally. This concern could be solved by the implant of grain-sized RFID tags into acid-free folders and archival boxes, without the use of adhesive labels. Software upgrading can also be an issue, as many companies currently producing RFID tags have proprietary claims on them; several of these companies include 3M, Checkpoint Systems, Inc., and Virtua Library Services. Currently, standards devised by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to delineate communication between readers and tags have been implemented in order to form better interoperability with in-place computer platforms of organizations. Time and money to program the tags is another issue for archives and libraries that do not have the resources to begin and RFID system for their collections (Resource #15).

Some materials, such as metals and water, absorb or deflect radio waves (RF-absorbent or RF-opaque), giving incomplete or no readings for tagged files or boxes during the inventory or tracking of materials. This depends on the radio frequency of the tags. There are three types of radio frequency: low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), and ultra high frequency (UHF). UHF gives the best transfer rate of data and largest read zone, while LF can transmit with better success. Older RFID tags could not be read well on items stacked two-to-three deep on shelves; while this issue has been solved greatly in recent years, there could still be the occasional non-read of tagged items that could be on archives’ shelves. RFID tags are thought to endure indefinitely (principally passive tags), yet there is no sure way of knowing how long these tags can last. Although RFID stands to be an excellent future option for use in archives, at present the technology is in its infancy (comparable to radio technology in the 1940s versus the 1990s). As technology rapidly advances, the reality is that by the mid 2010s, RFID could be in many large and medium-sized archives throughout the United States.

Resources

1) Radio Frequency Identification Technologies: A Workshop Summary. Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2004). Viewed on May 21, 2009, at http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11189&page=R1.

2) Sandip Lahiri, RFID Sourcebook (New York: IBM, 2006), 3-17; Radio Frequency; Roy Want, RFID Explained: A Primer on Radio Frequency Identification Technologies (Morgan & Claypool, 2006), 7-9.

3) Lahiri, RFID Sourcebook, 3-17; Radio Frequency Identification Technologies.


4) Lahiri, RFID Sourcebook, 3-17, 52-53; Radio Frequency Identification Technologies.

5) Lahiri, RFID Sourcebook, 19-20, 50-51; Want, RFID Explained, 63-66.

6) Lahiri, RFID Sourcebook, 22; Radio Frequency Identification Technologies.

7) Lahiri, RFID Sourcebook, 22-29; Radio Frequency Identification Technologies.

8) Lahiri, RFID Sourcebook, 63-88; Want, RFID Explained, 4, 29-40.

9) “Advantages of RFID in Museum Setting.” NJE Consulting. Viewed at http://www.nje.ca/RFID_ Museum.htm; Silvia Filippini-Fantoni and Jonathan P. Bowen, “Mobile Multimedia: Reflections from Ten Years of Practice,” Digital Technologies and the Museum Experience: Handheld Guides and Other Media, Loic Tallon and Kevin Walker, eds. (New York: AltaMira, 2008), 85-85, 135-139; Farhat Khan, “Museum Puts Tags on Stuffed Birds.” RFID Journal (Sept. 7, 2004).Viewed at http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/view/1110/1/; Wessel, Rhea. “RFID Helps Malaysian Museums Track Artifacts.” RFID Journal (June 22, 2007). Viewed at http://www.cbs.com.my/english/news/rfidjournal.pdf.

10) Laura Smart, “Making Sense of RFID,” Library Journal 129 (Fall 2004), 4-6. Viewed on EBSCO at http://search.ebscohost.com.; Diane Ward, “Radio Frequency Identification Systems for Libraries and Archives: An Introduction.” Library & Archival Security 18.2 (2003): 15-19. Viewed on EBSCO at http://search.ebscohost.com.

11) ACERA Meeting Minutes, 11/06/08,” Advisory Committee on the Electronic Records Archives (Meeting NO. 7). Viewed at http://www.archives.gov/era/pdf/acera7-minutes-110608-final.pdf; Paul Brachfeld (Office of Inspector General), “Audit Memorandum 06-07, Evaluation of Management Control Program for FY 2005,” National Archives and Records Administration (December 21, 2005). Viewed at http://www.archives.gov/oig/
pdf/audit-report-06-07.pdf.

12) Michael J. Faber, “RFID: The Next Tool for Managing Records?” Information Management Journal 36.6 (Nov./Dec. 2002), 62. Viewed at EBSCO at http://search.ebscohost.com.


13) Faber, “RFID,” 62.

14) Lahiri, RFID Sourcebook, 108-109.

15) Ward, “Radio Frequency,” 15-19.