Catherine Ebenezer

SIH-4003-N-YEAR-2009

Catherine Ebenezer
Effective leadership for health service improvement
SIH-4003-N-YEAR-2009

Michael Baker
Sophia Martin

A library service improvement project:

implementation of an RFID security system
Resubmitted 15/11/10

Word count: 3997

 Catherine Ebenezer
SIH-4003-N-YEAR-2009

Introduction

This report describes and analyses the context for and initial phases of a
project to implement a radio frequency identification (RFID) tracking system at
two sites of the library service of a mental health trust in the north east of
England, including the background and strategic drivers, the initial
investigation of security solutions, the reasons for selection of an RFID
system, procurement, and the initial phase of installation on one site.

Background

The extant guidance on NHS library and knowledge services in England

remains HSG (97)47 (DH 1997), according to which “libraries are a key
resource for clinical effectiveness, for research and for education and training,
all of which are crucial to the delivery of high quality health care” and “access
to the health knowledge base is essential to the delivery of high quality health
care”. It required NHS trusts and health authorities to draw up a library and
information strategy covering all staff groups. This strategy should
“demonstrate how they plan to achieve access to library and information
services for all their staff, by directly provided services, by contracts or service
level agreements”. The positive impacts of library and information services on
the quality of clinical care have been amply demonstrated, certainly for acute
and primary services (Weightman and Williamson 2005, Bryant and Gray
2006).

The stated purpose and remit of the trust library service, as with all NHS
libraries in England, is to support the professional development of NHS staff
at all levels; clinical and management decision making, and research in
accordance with the recommendations of the Hill review (Hill 2008, p. ). For
those staff who do not have access to university libraries or the information
services of professional associations it is likely to be their sole or main

2
 Catherine Ebenezer
SIH-4003-N-YEAR-2009

professional information resource.

Determining the optimum configuration for library services in mental health or

primary care NHS trusts is recognised to be a difficult issue (Hill 2008, p. ).
The service is of a ‘hybrid’ character, i.e. integrates both print and electronic
resources; the service strategy (Merryweather 2007) seeks to maximise the
exploitation of electronic resources and delivery channels, while recognising
that there are important aspects of library service which cannot readily be
replicated in a digital environment. These include the ability for staff to browse
book stock and borrow books, to browse and hand-search current issues and
back runs of print journals, and to obtain one-to-one help and advice with
carrying out information searches. Loan book stock is particularly important
for professional development in mental health disciplines; e-books, while
useful and increasingly popular for quick reference, cannot readily substitute
for printed books when extended reading is required (cf. Levine-Clark 2006).

The configuration of library services across the trust in terms of sites, while
partly historical in nature, is intended to represent a balance between the
competing requirements of cost-effectiveness (which would require a large
single site) and equity of access to the service for staff in all the geographical
areas served, so that there is a library presence on each major hospital site.

At the time the library service had four sites: two of these (site SH and site
CH) were scheduled to be merged in new premises (site L) due to open in late
2009/early 2010, and a third was due to move to a new hospital site (site M)
due to open in spring 2010. The fourth, located within a large (100- bedded)
modern PFI inpatient site, was intended to remain as it was (site D).The initial
driver for implementation of a security system within the trust libraries was a
sudden sharp increase in the level of book stock losses resulting from de
facto thefts, which became apparent in the autumn of 2008 when a large
number of books recently purchased and listed as available on the catalogue
were found to be missing from the shelves. The losses were subsequently
confirmed by stock checks. Thefts were occurring mainly at site D, which was
located in a small education centre and staffed only between 9.00 and 12.00

3
 Catherine Ebenezer
SIH-4003-N-YEAR-2009

noon each day. The recent withdrawal of medical directorate staff from this
centre was thought to be contributing to the problem, as subsequently it was
frequently deserted, even during office hours. Some theft was also occurring
at site CH, which at the time was staffed during office hours for half of the
week. Site D had no security at all other than the hospital’s electronic key fob
system; directorate operational policy was that there should be 24-hour
access and that the library door should not be locked. Site CH had a keypad
on the door, the combination for which was known to regular readers, and
which was never changed. Both libraries had a well-publicised card-based
system to permit the self-issue of books when unattended: readers were
instructed to write their name and location, with the date of issue, on a card
inside the book which was to be left on the librarian’s desk, the loan being
processed via the library management system (LMS) next day. However,
there was no means of enforcing compliance with this procedure. Poor
physical security of stock was identified as a weakness within the SWOT
analysis undertaken as part of the work of updating the library strategy (see
Appendix 1). It was evident that the problem needed to be addressed as a
priority: it is intuitively apparent that non-availability of books, i.e. which are
listed on the catalogue but are missing from the shelves, impacts negatively
upon users’ perceptions of library service quality. This is confirmed in many
studies of library service evaluation, e.g. Kemp (2001), Andaleeb and
Simmons (1998), Simmons and Andaleeb (2001), Awan and Azam (2008). In
this instance lack of organisational capacity (low staffing levels) meant that it
had not been possible conduct a local survey to evaluate staff perceptions of
the quality of library services and priorities for development; had this been
possible, an existing instrument, such as the North Staffordshire Directorate of
Health Promotion Resources Library User Satisfaction Survey (available at
www.library.nhs.uk/forlibrarians/ could have been adapted and used.

It should be made clear that standards around NHS library opening hours and
access are nowadays very non-specific. General Medical Council (GMC)
guidance refers only to “appropriate learning resources and facilities, including
libraries …” (e.g. GMC s.d.). The Royal College of Psychiatrists in its
curriculum documents mentions only the need to have access to “appropriate

4
 Catherine Ebenezer
SIH-4003-N-YEAR-2009

library facilities”. The NHS Libraries Quality Assurance Framework (LQAF)

(SHALL 2010b) refers to out-of-hours access under the heading of ensuring
equity of access for all staff groups: “This ... includes out-of-hours access
where there is an expressed need or requirement for it” (criterion 5.3b).

Initial investigations of possible solutions

The approach taken initially by the library manager was to investigate the
possibilities for improving the security at site D via existing systems. It became
apparent through discussions with the trust’s security manager that both the
limited functionality of the existing access control system at site D and the
lack of a trust-wide access control system presented major problems. The
library was intended to be accessible 24 hours by staff visiting the site as well
as by those based there. It was found that there was no way of limiting access
via the existing key fob system; it automatically provided access to all areas of
the hospital. Also, only staff on site could be issued with key fobs. The only
option, therefore, would be to implement some form of security system for the
library itself. At this stage there appeared to be no possibility of being able to
increase staffing hours at site D.
While there was no definite prospect of funding the installation of such a
system, it was decided in consultation with directorate management to
investigate the possibilities in an open-ended / ‘blue skies’ fashion, so that
proposals could readily be developed at a later date should the opportunity
arise. The library manager had previous experience of a library security
system in another trust, but needed to familiarise herself with the types of
system currently available, and gather as much accessible and relevant
information as possible about their perceived benefits and disadvantages. As
well as investigating library security practices in other trusts and discussions
of library security systems within the professional literature, she identified key
vendors (initially seven companies, identified as A to G) via the CILIP Buyers’
Guide (http://www.buyersguideonline.co.uk). Sales and marketing staff from
these companies were contacted, with a view to arranging a visit at which
they could see site D and propose possible solutions.

5
 Catherine Ebenezer
SIH-4003-N-YEAR-2009

It was established through initial fact-finding that there are three main types of
library security system currently on the market: electromagnetic tagging (EM),
radio frequency (RF) and radio frequency identity tagging (RFID). Most of the
vendors approached were offering different types of system. Each type
requires the tagging of each item held within the library, and a sensor gate at
the library exit which will register unauthorised removal of items. All may be
used in conjunction with closed circuit television cameras (CCTV). EM is the
oldest and most established of these technologies; it was an EM-based
system which the library manager had previously used. RF is not now widely
in use in libraries; it is a simple system similar to those used in retailing, which
is generally suitable only for small collections. RFID is the most costly option,
but offers an integration of circulation and security functions, with additional
facilities for the management of stock, including simultaneous self-issue and
self-return of multiple items, item tracking, and rapid and effective stocktaking
by means of handheld ‘wands’.

The components and characteristics of library RFID systems, with their

advantages and disadvantages, are described in detail by Kern (2004), Ward
(2004), Coyle (2005), Singh et al. (2006), Galhotra and Galhotra (2008),
Breeding (2008), and Hazel et al. (2009). RFID uses radio waves to identify
tagged items, and to transfer data from a ‘transponder’ to a ‘reader’ to a
database. An RFID transponder is a thin tag which is stuck within the item,
consisting of a data storage chip and an antenna. When the transponder (tag)
enters a reader’s radio frequency field, the reader’s signal activates the tag to
transmit its data. A reader may be a staff issue station, a self-issue station, a
stock checking ‘wand’, or an exit gate (sensor). Information from tags is
routed in real time to the circulation database of an LMS using the Standard
Interchange Protocol version 2 (SIP2 protocol)(3M 1998). Most RFID tags
include an electronic article surveillance (EAS) feature; a tagged item that has
not been properly issued will set off an alarm when it passes through the RF
field emitted from security gates. In this way the item can be issued and the
tag desensitised in a single step. RFID has been widely used for some years
in large libraries, such as university or public libraries, and more recently has

6
 Catherine Ebenezer
SIH-4003-N-YEAR-2009

begun to gain market share in the medium and small library sector. Within
larger libraries RFID offers the possibility of significant cost savings, though
the initial costs are high. As a security system RFID suffers from the
disadvantage that the tags can be shielded by aluminium foil, or even
removed entirely, since they are visible within the book covers (Coyle 2005).

At this stage there was a lack of clear information which could be provided to
the vendors’ representatives. A plan was available for the room which was to
house site M, but the configuration of the library fittings and furniture had not
been finalised. There was none available for site L. Also there were no clear
cost parameters, since no specific budget allocation had been made to
support the installations. The criteria and priorities put forward for the vendors’
proposals were that the system should:
a) be capable of being accommodated in limited space (sites D and M)
b) provide robust and user-friendly support for self-issue
c) be capable of linking directly to CCTV and / or to other security
systems
d) require only a modest initial outlay and maintenance costs.

Criterion b) was of great importance, since it was felt by the library manager
that making self issue as fast and easy as possible would in itself serve to
reduce de facto theft.

The best method of deciding between the varying solutions appeared to be an

invitation to selected vendors to present their proposed solution to a panel at
which different professional stakeholder perspectives were represented,
consisting in this case of library staff, the medical development manager (who
has line management responsibility for the library), the library’s customer
services representative from Information Services (ISD), and the trust’s senior
security officer. A morning session was arranged at which vendors A, C, D
and F were invited to demonstrate their systems. The aim of this session was
understood to be not to select a preferred vendor at this stage, but to identify
a preferred type of solution, for which a vendor could be selected later by
means of a formal tender process.

7
 Catherine Ebenezer
SIH-4003-N-YEAR-2009

From the panel discussions which concluded the session it was clear that the
preferred type of solution, despite its relatively high cost, had to be RFID,
because only RFID was able to provide the necessary level of security
functionality. Library security systems can link to CCTV in such a way that an
image is captured at the same time that the alarm is triggered (i.e. when
someone removes a book from the library without it having been issued or self-
issued) thereby capturing an image of the person as he or she walks through
the security gates. Such an event in an RFID system affords the ability to
identify the book removed as well as the offender, because the tag inside the
book bears bibliographic details (transferred from the LMS). It needed to be
established that the LMS (LIBERO) offered the SIP2 protocol, by means of
which this data is transferred; this was readily confirmed by the LIBERO
technical support company, LIB-IT.

System procurement

At this stage the vendor selection process was rather short-circuited by events.
The library manager had been asked by the medical director to prepare a paper
for the trust’s executive management team (EMT) stating clearly the future
requirements for library space and staffing and the rationales for this, also
putting forward proposals for the future of the library service as a whole; the
medical director hoped thereby to secure commitment to the library on the part
of the trust’s senior management. The immediate trigger for this had been a
decision by the trust’s operational management to reduce the size of the
proposed space at site L from 200 sq m to 78 sq m. In its final version this
document (referred to hereafter as the EMT paper) included a proposal to
install RFID security systems at sites D, L and M, The positive impacts cited in
support were essentially those of facilitating self-issue and return of stock in the
absence of library staff and of providing secure 24-hour access to library
premises.

The EMT’s response to the paper, when it came in September 2009, was as
surprising as it was unwelcome. Essentially it required the closure of site D,

8
 Catherine Ebenezer
SIH-4003-N-YEAR-2009

with no increase in staffing resource or overall library funding and no

reconsideration of the plans for site L. The proposals for RFID installations at
sites L and M, however, were accepted, with the capital costs to be met from
the development budgets in each case. It is evident that RFID was perceived
by the EMT primarily as a means of economising on library staff!

Site L was scheduled to open in January 2010, and the library manager was
presented in early October 2009 with a request from directorate management
to select a preferred vendor as soon as possible from among those who had
attended the presentation and to work with the Estates Department on finalising
the plans for site L as soon as possible, including electrical cabling and network
infrastructure as well as the configuration of shelving and library office space.
This left insufficient time to adopt any formal project methodology (such as
PRINCE2), to develop a RFP (request for proposals) or to conduct a formal
tendering exercise. The library manager then contacted vendors A and C with
information about the new position, asking them to quote in as much detail as
possible for the provision of RFID at sites L and M. It was discovered that
vendor B was also offering a competitively-priced RFID system which had not
been presented to us, so it was invited to submit a quotation as well. The cost
threshold was lower than that at which a formal tender would have been
required. At this stage the criteria for selection included:
a) capital cost
b) yearly maintenance costs
c) support for the SIP2 protocol (required to work with any LMS)
d) ability to inter-operate with CCTV
e) design and user-friendliness of the self-issue station
f) facilities provided for initial setup and training
g) technical support and maintenance arrangements.

Following brief negotiations, three closely-comparable quotations were received

from these vendors, of which A was selected on the basis of offering the most
suitable desktop self-issue station and the lowest maintenance costs. The
sales, training and technical staff of vendor A were then asked to liaise with the
building development project manager for site L regarding electrical and

9
 Catherine Ebenezer
SIH-4003-N-YEAR-2009

network installation requirements, which had to be finalised by mid-October. At

the same time a library furniture vendor was selected on the basis of the library
manager’s previous experience and invited to put forward a design for the
shelving and furniture for site L . Once the planned layout had been agreed, the
configuration for the electrical and network installation was finalised following a
further visit from vendor A’s training manager and on-site advice from the trust
security specialist about the purchase and installation of CCTV equipment in
line with trust policy requirements. CCTV equipment was purchased from the
vendor and installed by their engineers.

The expectation and hope had been that it would be possible to provide 24-
hour access to this library once the RFID system was implemented. However, it
became apparent during the detailed planning discussions that the building (the
Education Centre) was designed to be locked out of extended working hours,
thereby restricting access to the library and reducing the benefit of RFID
implementation.

Implementation: progress to date

Although the customer service manager from the trust’s Information Services
Department (ISD) had been invited to the review panel and kept informed of the
RFID proposals, there had hitherto been little involvement on ISD’s part in the
procurement process. The library manager was not led to anticipate that there
would be any major technical or security issues associated with RFID
implementation, given that there were no known information governance issues
or apparent major technical hurdles; the only data being passed via the network
was data that is already being passed via the LMS, and the level of network
traffic generated would be relatively very low. A request had been received
from the vendor for ISD to provide them with an IP address on the trust’s
network. The library manager was subsequently advised that ISD needed to be
involved with the RFID implementation in a project management role and that
ISD should have been contacted more formally at an earlier stage about
proposals!

10
 Catherine Ebenezer
SIH-4003-N-YEAR-2009

Advice was subsequently received from the Head of Information: Infrastructure

that implementation at site L would need to be delayed for several months
owing to the imminent start of the N3 COIN project, a major network migration
process, during which she was not willing to countenance the connection of any
new devices to the network. The library manager was also required to liaise
with the company’s technical support staff to provide answers to a number of
technical questions on which she was seeking clarification; it proved somewhat
difficult to obtain clear information. Permission was granted for the hardware,
including security gates, staff station (for book tagging) and self-issue station,
with the local software, to be installed during March 2010; the ISD helpdesk
was to be contacted to ask for a second-line support person to be made
available to the site library staff and vendor’s installation engineers that day,
while the library manager made herself available on site to deal with queries or
problems as they arose. This enabled a start to be made by the library assistant
on the tagging of the site L stock. Subsequently a meeting was arranged with
the vendor’s managing director, the library manager and the Head of
Information: Infrastructure to clarify further the technical issues. A meeting was
subsequently held with the Information Security Officer to clarify information
governance requirements relating to the CCTV installation.

For a large library implementing RFID, the retrospective tagging of the stock
and registering it on the local circulation database of the RFID system is a
major task in terms of time and cost, and is often contracted out to specialist
agencies. For this much smaller operation it was agreed that during the pre-
implementation period the part-time library assistant at site L would fit in as
much tagging as she could within the course of her other work, to provide some
idea of the time commitment that would be involved. In the event she found
herself unable to carry out any retrospective tagging, and has tagged only the
new acquisitions. The library manager was subsequently offered funding to
cover the cost of a temporary worker to carry out the tagging.

A key technical issue which has not yet been finally resolved is that the vendor,
under the terms of the maintenance contract, requires remote access to the
trust network for installing system upgrades and troubleshooting. Any NHS trust

11
 Catherine Ebenezer
SIH-4003-N-YEAR-2009

network obviously has to be managed in accordance with the Information

Governance Statement of Compliance (IG SoC):
http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/systemsandservices/infogov/igsoc,
which sets very stringent conditions for remote access. Commercial third
parties providing services to the NHS frequently purchase a connection to N3,
the NHS broadband network, but it turned out that our vendor, with only two
other NHS customers, did not have one. With hindsight, availability of an N3
connection should have been included in the vendor selection criteria. As a
consequence of the failure to establish remote access, the SIP2
interconnection with the LIBERO LMS has not yet been tested and verified.

In the event the N3 COIN migration, and attendant need to move servers at site
L, took the ISD network staff far longer than anticipated; RFID implementation
has been stalled until recently. The next phases of implementation, i.e.
establishment of secure remote access and verification of the interaction with
LIBERO, tagging of stock, training of readers, internal communications, and the
establishment of operational procedures for handling non-tagged items,
including other libraries’ book stock, are still ahead of us.

Evaluation

At a suitable stage after implementation the impact of RFID will need to be

evaluated. Narver (2009) and Swabey and Narver (s.d.) provide guidance on this
process, recommending a one-year follow up. Adapting their suggestions, possible
impact points to be evaluated could be as follows: levels of theft, staff time spent
on book circulation, speed of processing of acquisitions, ability and time to conduct
stock checks. He suggests evaluating return on investment (ROI) in terms of
payback, i.e. the number of years it will take for the project benefits to equal the
initial project investment. This could be done using process costs derived via the
National Costing Model for NHS Library Services in England currently being
developed by the SHA Library Leads group (SHALL 2010a). An example of such
an ROI calculation is provided by Coyle (s.d.). Qualitative issues such as reader
and staff satisfaction should also be taken into consideration (Coyle 2005). Once
the RFID implementation is complete and readers have become familiar with the

12
 Catherine Ebenezer
SIH-4003-N-YEAR-2009

relevant systems and processes, it will also be important to conduct a general

customer satisfaction survey, including experience of these within the topics
addressed (cf. above, p. 4).

Reference list

3M (1998). 3M™ Standard Interchange Protocol: describes 3M Standard

Interchange Protocol version 2.00. At
http://multimedia.mmm.com/mws/mediawebserver.dyn?
ddddddNLXpsdyHedrHeddd4LYP0DDDDC- [accessed 09/09/10]

Awan M U and Azam S (2008). Library service quality assessment. Journal of

Quality and Technology Management 4(1) 51-64

Breeding, M (2008). Circulation technologies from past to future. Computers in

Libraries 28(2) 19-22. Available at http://www.librarytechnology.org/ltg-
displaytext.pl?RC=13133 [accessed 06/09/10].

Bryant S L, Gray A (2006). Demonstrating the positive impact of

information support on patient care in primary care: a rapid
literature review. Health Information and Libraries Journal 23 118-
25.

Coyle, K (2005). Management of RFID in libraries. Journal of Academic

Librarianship 31(5) 486-489. At http://www.kcoyle.net/jal_rfid.html [accessed
09/09/2010].

Coyle, K (s.d.). Costs /benefits /calculations. At

http://www.kcoyle.net/ROIexample_kc.xls [accessed 09/09/2010]

DH (2007). HSG(97)47 Library and information services. Available at

http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20100406153245/http://dh.gov.uk/en/Pub
licationsandstatistics/Lettersandcirculars/Healthserviceguidelines/DH_4018488
[accessed 13/11/10]

Galhotra, MK and Galhotra, AM (2009). Application of Radio Frequency

Identification Technology in Libraries. DESIDOC Journal of Library and
Information Technology 29(3) 59-64.

General Medical Council (s.d.). Standards for training for the foundation
programme. At http://www.gmc-
uk.org/Standards_for_Training_for_the_Foundation_Programme.pdf_26989973
.pdf [accessed 14/09/10].

Hazel, M et al. (2009). The power and pitfalls of RFID. Library Journal webcast.
Available at http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/tools/webcast/883884-
388/the__power_and_pitfalls.html.csp [accessed 03/09/10].

13
 Catherine Ebenezer
SIH-4003-N-YEAR-2009

Hill, P (2008). Report of a review of NHS-funded libraries in England: from

knowledge to health in the 21st century. London: Department of Health. At
http://www.libraryservices.nhs.uk [accessed 13/11/10]

Kemp, J H (2001). Using the LibQUAL+ survey to assess user perceptions of

collections and service quality. Collection Management 26(4) 1-14

Kern, C (2004). Radio-frequency-identification for security and media circulation

in libraries. Electronic Library 22(4) 317-324.

Levine-Clark, M (2006). Electronic book usage: a survey at the University of

Denver. portal: Libraries and the Academy 6(3) 285-299.

Merryweather, T (2007). ---------- NHS Trust Library and information service

strategy 2007-2010.

Narver, J (2009). RFID and library financial security. Feliciter 55(2) 46-49.

SHALL (2010a). SHALL briefing for library staff July 2010. At

http://www.libraryservices.nhs.uk/document_uploads/Briefings/SHALL_Briefing
_July_2010.pdf [accessed 09/09/2010].

SHALL (2010b). NHS library quality assurance framework (LQAF). At

http://www.libraryservices.nhs.uk/document_uploads/LQAF/LQAF_Version
%202.1_June_2010.pdf [accessed 14/09/10]

Simmons, P L and Andaleeb, S S (2001). Usage of academic libraries: the role

of service quality, resources and user characteristics. Library Trends 19(4) 626-
634.

Singh, J, Brar, N and Fong, C (2006). The state of RFID applications in

libraries. Information Technology and Libraries 25(1) 24-32.

Swabey, A and Narver, J (s.d.). How to quantify the return on investment of

library technology projects. At http://www.slideshare.net/jeffnarver/rfid-use-in-
libraries-roi [accessed 09/09/2010].

Ward, DM (2004). March: RFID systems. Computers in Libraries 24(3) 19-24.

Weightman, A L and Williamson, J (2005). The value and impact of information

provided through library services for patient care: a systematic review. Health
Information and Libraries Journal 22 4-25

14
 Catherine Ebenezer
SIH-4003-N-YEAR-2009
Appendix 1: SWOT from proposed revised library strategy (2009)
Strengths
Expertise of staff / in-depth
knowledge of mental health
information needs
High level of engagement with
LIS on behalf of senior managers
and clinicians
Robust network infrastructure
across trust
Good relationship with IT
services; library IT is well
supported
Opportunities
Knowledge management: library
collaboration in trust initiatives,
support of clinical teams
Contribution to information
literacy support via FdSc
research project and NE SHA e-
learning VLE (PILLARS)
Weaknesses
Premises do not comply with NSF standards
Poor physical security of stock – especially
at -------- Hospital
Funding is limited, leading to low staffing in
relation to strategic priorities and service
demands; difficult to contribute to NHS LIS at
regional or national level
Role of CKO not sufficiently influential in driving
forward agenda
Threats
Services of former NLH (now part of NHS
Evidence) under review: Search 2.0, link
resolver, HLISD, NSF
Instability of NHS Evidence user interface affects
user experience and ability to produce learning
and training material
Uncertainty over future of former NLH service
development work streams following merger with
NICE (NSF, training, resources)
No Alliance electronic services officer in post;
LIBERO and A-Z link resolver not being
maintained
Uncertainties over future hosting of LIBERO,
future of Alliance van service
---- Library under pressure to leave LIBERO
North East SHA LKS manager has limited time
to devote to LIS matters
Staffing levels in acute trust libraries are
inadequate to support Alliance operations
15