What to Do About the Newly Adopted ISO 28560 Data Model?

The objective of the new U.S. Data Model for RFID (NISO Document RP-6-2012) is to create an environment where every library can use every other library’s RFID tag regardless of the supplier. In addition, hardware from any RFID vendor should be interoperable and the systems should be free from proprietary interfaces that make the hardware work with any given ILS. If libraries adopt the U.S. Data Model, we could move to an environment where vendor lock-in is a thing of the past.  This will increase competition between vendors and result in lower prices and better products. 

To benefit from the new standard, you must inside on adherence to the US Data Profile in your RFID procurement. I have recently seen several go out that did not do that.  I believe this is a big mistake.

In fact, specifying adherence to the U.S. Data Profile is the least of what libraries should be doing right now vis-a-vis RFID.  Here are more to-dos that I think are critical:

1. Libraries must insist on ISO 180003, Mode 1 tags (as specified by ISO 28560 and the new U.S. Data Model).  
2. Libraries must learn what the data elements are that are specified in ISO 28560-1
3. Libraries must decide which data elements they want so use and how they will use them (there is a lot of flexilibity in the standard)
4. Libraries must verify that their vendors are propertly encoding the tag per ISO 28560-2 (again, there is a lot of flexibility in the standard)

To understand more about the new standard and how it changes everything, check out my recently updated RFID pages.