Unique capabilities of RFID make it the logical choice for museum exhibit tracking

This article describes the use of RFID technology in a museum setting.

 

Advantages of RFID in Museum Setting

 

RFID, or Radio Frequency Identification, is a well-established technology whereby small flexible labels—“RFID tags”—can be read and uniquely identified by a special device—the RFID reader. Many tags can be read at the same time, and no line-of-sight (unlike barcode) is necessary when reading the tags.

 

RFID’s ability to simultaneously read even hundreds of tags in a few seconds provides a unique advantage for tracking museum exhibits. It allows

collections staff to track movement and take inventory of artifacts without physically handling them, thus greatly reducing damage to collection items. For example a hand-held reader could easily read 20 or more items stacked on top of each other in a storage drawer. Besides the reduced handling, the ability to scan multiple items also has a positive impact on staff productivity.

 

When properly applied, RFID technology can achieve a virtually 100% read accuracy providing obvious advantages  over manual methods.

 

Every RFID tag manufactured in the world gets a globally-unique ID, which is impossible to change or duplicate. This has significant advantages for museum collection tracking, both from a records-keeping (unique) and security (impossible to duplicate) points of view.

 

Finally, RFID’s ability to be read through other materials means that artifacts can be scanned touchlessly even while 

RFID tags come in various sizes, from quarter-sized, to the size of a hand

on display. In contrast, a barcode would have to be visible in order to be scanned, which would be unacceptable for esthetic reasons.

 

RFID for Movement Tracking

 

Busier museums that re-arrange their exhibits with some frequency can greatly benefit from RFID to help them track movements of their collections. The actual method of tracking could take on any combination of the following forms:

 

Þ Gate readers installed at key doors could monitor the movements automatically

Þ Hand-held readers connected to Personal Digital Assistants (PDA’s) could be used by staff to record the movements as exhibits leave or re-enter storage.

Þ Hand-held readers could be used by staff to record location of exhibits in their final position

 

RFID for Museum Exhibit Inventory

 

Imagine taking inventory of 15,000 works of art, including updating their exact location in your computer system, in two hours. Sounds impossible? Here’s the breakdown:

 

Physical inventory of 15,000 items in 2 hours

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If the last time you did physical inventory of your collection was two years ago, consider the tremendous benefits of the astronomical improvement in speed of this process when using RFID. Something that you couldn’t afford to do before any more than yearly, you could now do weekly. The result? Discrepancies between your collection management system and your physical inventory would be discovered much, much sooner, while the whereabouts of the object in question was still fresh in everyone’s mind, and the object could therefore be tracked down much easier.

 

As staff pass the RFID reader over the contents of the drawer, in addition to scanning the tags attached to each artifact, they also scan a special location tag that is affixed to each drawer. In this way, the system is ‘location aware’ - it knows what is located where.

 

Data collected in this way would be automatically downloaded to your collections management software, either on-the-fly through a wireless network, or afterwards, by dropping the RFID reader into a cradle.

 

 

RFID for Instant Access to Information

 

Once a museum collection was labeled with RFID tags, any staff member with a hand-held reader can get instant access to information about any piece of interest. Information such as its home location (needed when putting items away), maintenance history, artist, or any other piece of information that you already have in your database can instantly be displayed.

 

RFID Can Help Find Misplaced Artifacts

 

If a specific artifact turned out to have been misplaced, a portable RFID reader can be used to search for that artifact (or artifacts) in your stores. Note that this is also done automatically during the inventory process: the scanner instantly indicates to the user when it detects an artifact with a previously unknown location.

 

RFID Enables Exciting Potential Future Uses

 

RFID tagging of your museum collection opens the door to exciting new possibilities, such as self-guided museum tours. Users could access detailed multimedia information on works of art via an RFID-equipped PDA simply by scanning an object of interest.

 

NJE Consulting—Your partner for museum RFID automation

 

If you choose to pursue RFID implementation in your museum or art gallery, here is the NJE Consulting commitment to you:

 

Þ NJE will work with you to define system requirements for your particular installation

Þ NJE will provide all necessary hardware and software to make the system work for you

Þ NJE will train your people

Þ NJE will integrate the system with your existing collections management software

Þ NJE will provide documentation for the system, including operating procedures

Þ NJE will assist you in first-time data setup

Þ NJE will provide continued system support

 

For more information regarding museum RFID automation, please contact Bartek Muszynski, President of NJE Consulting.