[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

RFID "Radio frequency Identification". An explanation



Title: RFID "Radio frequency Identification". An explanation

Dear Records Management and Archive Colleagues,

I have been queried in respect to the validity of my posting to several listserv's of, NOT A JOKE: Wireless 'Smart Glass' Knows When You Need a Drink, as not being relevant to some recipients.

I offer my apologies to those who hold this view.

My posting was an attempt to highlight the degree that RFID "Radio Frequency Identification" technology is entering mainstream or future applications. Based on the responses I have received it is obvious that I may have failed in my attempt to get this message across.

Records Management Systems: It is my personal opinion that in a record system all incoming correspondence should be scanned on receipt and entered into an appropriate records system providing for access, discovery, security, long or short term retention etc. as defined in the new Australian and International Records Management Standards AS/ ISO 15498.1 & .2 2002. Again my views may vary from reality in that in 1999 at an RMAA Records Management Association of Australia Convention in Darwin Mr Brand Hoff, then the Managing Director of TRIM "Tower Software" advised the audience that 95% of his clients used the TRIM software product to manage physical paper and not electronic documents. I doubt that much has changed in the past 3 years, and that based on my observation the figure, could on the average vary with 90% all the way up to 100% being physical paper documents being managed in many instances in  records systems. In an archive environment it could be that 100% are physical paper document plus additional electronic and other artefacts.

The reality that physical documents are the norm and the fact that borne digital documents are being printed out and managed as physical paper files, how do we manage and track those files in an organisation? Some, or even many organisations have used barcodes on files to track and manage them but few organisations have bar-coded documents.

Why documents, either loose or attached to a file? If my theory that incoming correspondence should be scanned at the point of entry is correct, one would assume that at some future date legacy files produced prior to the commencement of the scanning process [which are made up of a compilation of documents] would be scanned on an as required or other basis.

Assuming that we are following the guidelines as set down in the new Australian and International Records Management Standards AS/ ISO 15498.1 & .2 2002 item # 9.4 Registration

In a records system which employs registration processes:

a) a record is registered when it is captured into the records system;

b) no further processes affecting the record can take place until its registration is complete.

we will be registering incoming and other documents at the point of receipt, and or creation. If we are doing this and we add a barcode or RFID tag to the physical document at the point of registration we can then scan all of the documents contained on a file and automatically [without manual entry] link or index them to our records management system database at the time of scanning. This action may be carried out after a short period of time or at some distant time frame e.g. when the records become archives, if not before.

Why barcodes ? Barcodes have served us well and still do so. RFID is a much smarter identification and tracking tool.

Why not RFID "Radio Frequency Identification" tags which are currently 1  inch X 1 inch in size or less or at some future point in time, Smart Dust or some miniaturised physical tag ?

One USA supplier is installing RF/ID applications in records management environments. Details available at this web site. http://www.recordsassociates.com/rfid.asp.

NOTE: This is not an endorsement of this organisation or the products it provides, but the service provided is an example of forward thinking in the use of RF/ID technology.

Please refer to this web site for details on Smart Dust. http://robotics.eecs.berkeley.edu/~pister/SmartDust/ for an article titled SMART DUST - Autonomous sensing and communication in a cubic millimetre.

Other web sites of interest in respect to RFID "Radio Frequency Identification" which you may care to assess are as follows:

http://www.korteks.com/Applications/Applications_TOC.htm and http://www.cioinsight.com/article/0,3658,apn=2&s=303&a=25448&ap=1,00.asp and http://www.activewaveinc.com/applications_overview.html and

http://www.activewaveinc.com/applications_airport_security.html and
http://www.far.com.sg/rfid.htm
http://www.rafsec.com/printer/applic.htm
Digital Dust Sweeps Away Traditional Networking - http://www.us.net/signal/Archive/Mar01/digital-march.html

The list goes on and on. In Australia the Victorian Government supplied free of charge RFID sensors for livestock so as to be able to track the animal and its environment from birth though to slaughter. This particular RFID was swallowed and remained in the animals stomach where it resided of the life of the animal.

Once a file or document has an RFID tag attached to it or the tag is impregnated within the paper or card of the file and or document, it can be tracked throughout an organisation, on a shelf, or in an office, or moving about the building or LEAVING THE PREMISES as it is corporate policy that no records are to leave the premises. Of course we all know that files never leave the premises as it is verboten!

With RFID "Radio Frequency Identification" we can know who is walking around the building with a file and if the file leaves the premises and with whom. This scenario assumes that we have installed scanners to read the RFID tags strategically located around the building in doorways and at entry and exit points. We could even mount RFID scanners at the entry point to the shredder room so as to record what records entered and in the possession of whom and if they reappeared.

BIG BROTHER ! Yes I know, but in some cases it is necessary, even desirable or even in some instances essential.

Are records managers and officers plus archivists up to speed with RFID "Radio Frequency Identification" technology and what it may be able to do for them? 

Maybe, but probably not !

Can, or should we use RFID "Radio Frequency Identification" in physical paper record file and document applications?

YES WE CAN ! And maybe we should.

How?  The potential is as endless as the mindset of the person addressing the issue.

Is RFID "Radio Frequency Identification" here to stay ?

You betcha !

Is RFID "Radio Frequency Identification" applicable to Records Management and Archive Professions?

Again, You betcha !

If after reading and assessing the above information you find me guilty of posting a message that is widely off topic and not appropriate to this group then I plead guilty and accept my [undisclosed] punishment.

My penalty may be similar to that of the poor Spaniard who on returning to Spain after a trip to the Americas after Chris's discovery was found guilty of being a witch because of the rubber material that he brought back with him which allowed him to remain dry in the rain. In their wisdom the Church found him guilty of being a witch as everyone else got wet when it rained and as he did not, he must be a witch and they burned him at the stake.

He was before his time and paid the ultimate price. Another and very serious lost promotional opportunity !

Please do not shoot the messenger!

In hind sight, did my NOT A JOKE posting get you focused on RFID "Radio Frequency Identification" ?

My only regret is that in the near future when I go to the supermarket all of the Checkout Chicks will have been retrenched. I fill up my trolley with product which has Smart Dust built into the packaging and as I walk through the scanner, all items are identified and my bill for $1,600.00 is debited to my smart card bank account also with an RFID chip which is still in my wallet.

I am left to pack my own purchases, a DIY "do it yourself" cheap process or I pay for the privilege and a 200 pound heavyweight packs them for me, or maybe a robot.

I already miss the passing of the Checkout Chicks.

Regards, Laurie

Mr Daniel Lawrance [Laurie] Varendorff, ARMA

A Records Management Professional, and proud of the fact

Consultant/Trainer/Tutor/Presenter: Records and Information Management

Imaging and Micrographic Specialist: 26 years experience

The Varendorff Consultancy

The Australian Distributor for A&P International

Scanner & Micrographic Resolution Test Targets

Visit our www site: http://www.pressenter.com/~apintl/

ABN: 77 836 801 165

27 Ronneby Rd, Lesmurdie, Western Australia 6076 - AUSTRALIA

PHONE: + 61 [08] 9291 6925 - MOBILE: + 61 0417 094 147

EMAIL: Laurie.Varendorff@Bigpond.com