A few fixes for known RFID problems were found today:

1. The self check kiosk fault which resulted in issued books having secure tags (as a result of borrowers accidentally trying to renew books on the same day they issued them) has been fixed.

I have restarted the kiosks in Law and Central so this fix can take effect. The Education kiosks will need to be restarted as well. So hopefully this will resolve the issue we’ve had with the gate alarms constantly being activated. Peter and I tested issuing and renewing items and didn’t detect any other problems as a result of this fix. However, if you notice anything awry please contact Library E-Services.

2. FE have supplied ‘attenuators’ to turn down the sensitivity of the RFID pads on the Information Desks. I have fitted them at Central, Law and MB – and intend to pop by Education tonight. These reduce the tag-detecting field around the pad so will hopefully ameliorate the problem of the pad erroneously checking in/out items. However, they do seem to impact on the encode tag function at the desks. You can still encode tags but you will notice that the pad doesn’t seem to detect the tag, even though my brief testing has found the pad will still encode the tag it can’t detect (!). I will do some more testing of this issue. Again, if you notice anything skewy since I’ve altered the pads please let Library E-Services know. (or me, but I”m part-time so it’s more reliable to go through E-Services).

Fiona