Allahabad University library to be equipped with RFID tech

The technology would enable users to locate any book from the huge treasure of around 7.5 lakhs books in the library at a mere click of a mouse.

Prayagraj: The Allahabad University (AU) in Prayagraj has initiated the effort to equip its central library with radio frequency identification system (RFID) technology.

The technology would enable users to locate any book from the huge treasure of around 7.5 lakhs books in the library at a mere click of a mouse.

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Besides, will also check book-theft from the library.

A proposal worth Rs 1.10 crore has been sent to the ministry of education by the varsity authorities and once the funds are sanctioned, the work to set-up the technology would begin.

According to official sources, the technology uses a set of stripes, which when placed inside the pages of a book, gets self-dissolved.

After that, any user can trace the book by placing it on the machine which reads its signals. The user can also log the book or make entries related to it on the software supporting the unique RFID of each book.

RFID automated material handling systems also helps accelerate the process of returning books to library shelves faster.

However, experts in the field of library science have reservations on the use of RFID technology in the context of AU.

“It is debatable whether AU central library is ready for the sophisticated technology as it would need every student to pass through a ‘gate’ (something like the metal detector gate). How safe it would be among the students and for how long it would keep working is hard to tell. That may be one reason why universities like Banaras Hindu University, Aligarh Muslim University and Delhi University have not gone for this technology”, said a senior faculty member of AU.

Earlier, it was in 2008 that the centre had announced sanctioning an amount of Rs 10 crores for upgradation of the central library.

However, only half of the promised money was sanctioned to AU, and the concept of RFID was never initiated at the library.