Dear Kristin and Everyone:

I can't claim to have any knowledge about RFID technology; however, it has
been my experience with barcode technology that the role of human beings has
a lot more to do with the success or failure of these systems than does the
hardware or software. It is easy to say that you can wave a hand-held
barcode or RFID scanner and get all your artwork information, but the trick
is preparing and training staff for the changes in the way inventory is
tracked. Also, don't underestimate the amount of time, energy and resources
($$) it will take to apply barcodes (or RFID) to packing materials
surrounding artworks, tags, folders, etc. Barcodes (and probably RFID) can
help facilitate the movement of large groups of objects, but many individual
objects will still need to be accounted for independently. Barcodes fall
off, get taken off for exhibition or conservation, get misplaced, get
applied to objects and fail to be recorded in the database, etc.

In general, it has been my experience that scholarly / academic types loathe
the idea of using / maintaining barcodes. Most of our collections are either
barcoded or in the process of being barcoded; however, many people resist
the idea of printing barcodes on exhibition labels as a quick means of
updating the contents of exhibtion galleries. Don't underestimate the
Luddites.

Stephen Lockwood, Museum Registrar
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

> ----------
> From:         KIRSTIN HOLM
> Reply To:     Museum discussion list
> Sent:         Monday, March 11, 2002 5:24 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      RFID technology
>
> I'm looking into getting some type of tracking system for the objects in
> the museum's collection. Bar coding is one option I'm thinking about, but
> I am more interested in RFID tracking, which uses radio frequencies to
> transmit information to hand held scanners. The beauty of RFIDs is that
> you can just wand over the objects and get all the information, rather
> than having to move or handle the object. And having just completed an
> inventory of the entire museum's collection, it would be a definate plus
> to not have to search for accession numbers on saddles! Has anyone had any
> experience with bar coding or RFIDs - how are they working out? And if so,
> what type of database do you use? We use ARGUS at the moment.
>
> thanks in advance -
>
>
> Kirstin Holm
> Collections Manager for
> Permanent Collections
> Autry Museum of Western Heritage
> 4700 Western Heritage Way
> Los Angeles, CA   90027
> (323) 667-2000, ext. 210
> [log in to unmask]
>
> =========================================================
> Important Subscriber Information:
>
> The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
> http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed
> information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail
> message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should
> read "help" (without the quotes).
>
> If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
> [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read
> "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).
>
>

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).