Wikipedia article on local area network
Wikipedia article on computer network
YouTube video: common types of computer networks
Coyle: "Management of RFID in libraries" Journal of Academic Librarianship
The advent of networks greatly enhances computers' ability to revolutionize society. Computers would be useful, but they wouldn't be nearly as important today if they lacked network capacity. Yet this is something I've rarely thought about and always took for granted. There is a great variety of network technology out there but they all serve similar purposes. They fascilitate communication and allow multiple people to share external devices such as printers. Networks can be very small (home area network) or very large (wide area network). Ethernet seems to be the dominant network technology in use today.
Regarding RFID technology, I found the privacy debate around this topic to be very interesting. Obviously, a library wants to protect the privacy of its patrons, but at the same time RFID technology is often the best anti-theft mechanism a library has. Without it, a library stands to lose a large portion of its inventory to theft. I witnessed this first hand at the library where I worked this past summer. It was a public library, and they didn't have RFID technology on their books -- only on their DVDs. When we did inventory checks, we found that a lot of books were missing -- far too many to be merely misplaced. I think RFID technology is necessary in light of this. Sometimes its the only thing keeping books on the shelves and available for honest patrons.
I'm curious about your DVD and books example. Was the DVD collection better off? Especially since it seems relatively easy to get around / block the RFID signal? I remember a friend who ran a music store telling me once that lots of shoplifters would "shop" with foil-lined bags. In certain circles anyway, these ways of tricking security gates = common knowledge.
ReplyDeleteI suppose I'm just really hoping (probably futilely) for a mysterious 3rd option to become available in the near future so that RFIDs might not end up being our only/best option. The privacy thing just weirds me out.