SINGAPORE--The National Library Board (NLB), which manages Singapore's 40 public libraries, has beefed up its IT infrastructure with new Web-enabled terminals to provide enhanced security features and easy management.
The deployment encompasses new "borrowing" kiosks which sport built-in cameras that capture the faces of library users while they check out their loans. Installed at six library branches since last December, the kiosk will enable library officials to resolve disputes based on images it captures, explained Kuan Sung, NLB's infocomm operations manager.
"Some patrons might claim that they did not borrow certain books, so the images will help to verify if it's true. So, on top of the transaction records, we also have visual records of who borrowed what," Kuan said.
"Without visual records, in the past, library staff took more than a week to search through borrowing records to resolve such disputes. And that (length of time) could lead to complaints from the public," he added.
The board's 10 million library items--ranging from books and magazines to music CDs and DVDs--have all been tagged with RFID (radio frequency identification) chips that contain information such as book titles and call numbers.
Presently, to borrow any library items, users just need to slot in their identity or membership cards at a borrowing kiosk and place the item on a designated area. The kiosk's RFID reader retrieves--via radio waves--the information embedded in the tag of each library item and completes the loan process.
"If someone uses a membership card to fraudulently borrow library items, we can retrieve the image (captured at the kiosk) and give it to the police (for use in their) investigation," said Wong Tack Wai, NLB's senior manager for library management and operations.
Kuan noted that to address privacy concerns that the board's 2 million members may have, the images are also encrypted and watermarked to ensure that they do not fall into the wrong hands.
The Web-enabled kiosks also mean that NLB's network administrators can easily retrieve the visual records, and perform regular maintenance through a Web browser interface.
"In the past, administrators needed to install client software on their machines to manage the kiosks," Kuan said, adding that the administrator only needs to go to a URL to manage the kiosks.
The new systems are part of the S$10 million (US$6 million) tender to beef up the board's RFID-based borrowing infrastructure. This project was awarded to Wavex Technologies, a Singapore-based RFID technology provider last October. Other initiatives in the pipeline include recommending books to members based on borrowing patterns, as well as providing the exact location of an item within the library premises at enquiry stations.
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