[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] RFID and Evergreen: Advanced applications?

[Will Matheson]

Good afternoon,

I work at a small-city library in northwestern British Columbia, and we 
along with many other BC libraries are on an instance of Evergreen known 
as Sitka.

At least three libraries on Sitka are using RFID for basic self-serve 
check-out and faster check-ins. At least one attaches temporary 
reprogrammable tags to ILL items. But that seems to be about as far as 
it goes.

What I am curious about: are any libraries in the broader Evergreen 
ecosystem using some of the bleeding-edge advanced applications of RFID? 
I've heard that the following are at least theoretically possible:

- Check-out items simply by walking out of the library with them

- Computer-aided shelf-reading to let pages know when items are out of order

- Find mis-shelved / lost items that happen to be in the library

- Transmit the contents of books directly into patron's brains

I'm kidding about that last one, but I'm seriously wondering how much of 
RFID is hype and how much is achievable reality. The hardware and 
software support needed to enable these advanced applications seems 
considerable. If anyone has even gotten close to trying any of them, I'd 
love to hear about it!

Sincerely,

-- 
William Matheson
Library Assistant - Technical
Prince Rupert Library