"Since we started using RFID to facilitate a self-service approach at our library, our staff can really take the time to help our students now," says Janice Bell, Deputy Director of Library & Learning Resources at Birmingham City University, United Kingdom. The latest survey of library patrons on the subject of customer satisfaction at the library confirmed that the students valued the new Mary Seacole Library greatly and revealed that they rated the library staff highly.
The students are pleased about more than just the extra service they are now receiving; they are also delighted with the easy-to-use system of checking out and returning books via touchscreen.

Faculty librarian Jane Richards explains the reasons behind the conversion to RFID: "Implementing the BiblioChip RFID system at Mary Seacole Library is part of a 47 million US$ expansion project for our campus. This decision to modernize is closely linked with our reputation as one of the country's largest libraries dealing specifically with the subjects of nursing and applied healthcare." The university library has set its sights high, with a desire to bring its services, media offerings and library technology to the leading-edge. Janice Bell and her team spent almost three years considering RFID technology and studying various practical reports in great detail before they made the final decision for their library. The Director supports her fellow librarians in choosing the right RFID solution and gives demonstrations of her library's RFID system.

Bibliotheca and D-Tech, its partner in the UK, proved to be the ideal RFID provider for the Mary Seacole Library. No one else but Bibliotheca was able to take the library's specific, operational requirements into account in a professional manner. The library wanted to use hybrid security gates, since they did not want to affix labels to the journals and magazines. And until its partner libraries convert to RFID as well, the new system will need to accept and be able to process media from the conventional library system used at other facilities.

As Janice Bell reiterates: "We were very happy with how easily and quickly Bibliotheca's team managed to take the media out of our Talis library management system. We were consistently met with a 'can do' approach from D-Tech, which, combined with the know-how and resources of Swiss system provider Bibliotheca RFID Library Systems, provided us with the perfect level of support."

For the university team is clear that the return on investment is already being felt in the fact that the service for the students has been optimized and staff has more time for the tasks they value.

For more information please visit http://library.bcu.ac.uk.