Web Resource Review 3

Museum puts tags on stuffed birds
By Farhat Khan
http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/view/1110/1/1/



I located this article with proQuest, and chose to revisit it through the RFID Journal in order to gain some context. I skipped past the dense main page - straight into RFID applications within the Art and Museum world. Kahn mentions that RFID technology (traditionally only considered useful for commercial purposes) has been employed innovatively by a Natural History Museum to better entertain its visitors by extending their learning experience.

This project does that by attaching RFID tags beside each bird on display, with the hope that the visitor, (who is issued with a PDA and is logged into the museum system) will interact with the exhibits through a choice of 3 different modes: encyclopaedia, theme and game.

The viewer is in the driving seat, however the choices they make are recorded and stored in a database. This enables staff and exhibit designers to access the data and come to general conclusions about viewing behaviours.

Throughout the article terminology is usefully hyperlinked directly to the RFID Journal glossary, where an explanation is provided. This is a good resource to use when proposing similar applications of RFID technology, as it caters to the planning and developing stages of exhibitions.

This Article gives evidence of what strategies are popular, and so would be a useful guide for those who are unfamiliar with this technology. There is little fuss about a system collecting specific data on the individuals visits. Perhaps this is due to it being a Danish museum, not an American one.


Reference:
Khan, F. (2004, September 7). Museum Puts Tags on Stuffed Birds. RFiD Journal. Retrieved from http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/view/1110/1/1/

Web Resource Review 2

Art security and RFID asset tag systems from ISIS
Products for the Art World
http://www.isisasset.com/



I visited the ISIS website due to an interest in artwork security in museums.
The main page offers the visitor a few options (without flummoxing them), as it's clearly laid out, and divided into four main sections. It caters for someone seeking the latest news and reports about RFID's uses and strengths while separating its products between the art world and business world's requirements.

Clicking on MORE for the latest news, profiles a prestigious National Art Gallery’s choice to adopt RFID technology for security purposes. Due to some security negligence, the Gallery decided to install small RFID tags on to the back of the artworks which 'check in’ to a central security network every 15 seconds. It’s a preventative approach and, if a tag fails to log in, the nearest security guards are notified. This example acts as a device to reaffirm that we’ve come to the right place when looking for successful art security technology, while offering new ideas about applications.

Unfortunately, this article is made available courtesy of the RFID Journal, and if one wants to read more, they would need to subscribe to the Journal.

Basically, ISIS appears to be using the technology in an unsophisticated way as a simple alarm system but masquerading it as cutting edge, and aiming it toward a niche market, eg RFID security for your 'private art collection on yachts'.
Whilst security is essential to the large public art gallery scenario - aspects of this marketing is rather impartial and overpowering.

Reference:
Art security and RFID Asset Tag Systems From ISIS. (n.d.). Retrieved May 5, 2007, from
http://www.isisasset.com/

Edwards, J. (2007, February). RFID and the Arts. RFiD Journal. Retrieved May 5, 2007, from
http://www.isisasset.com/news/article013/

Web Resource Review 1

Vanskee RFID Solutions
RFID-101
http://www.vanskee.com/



The company Vanskee.com (who sell RFID technology products) has a home page, which presents an array of services, from images of feature products, to possibilities that RFID technology can achieve. I am interested in gaining a working understanding of RFID technology and to explore its practical applications within an Art Gallery and Museum security situation. Ideally I’m looking for a good reference resource.

Therefore, clicking on the label RFID-101 reveals a list of RFID concerns - from definitions, purposes and advantages, through to specific considerations like choosing the type of hardware, or installation procedures.

This subject list with indentations, resembles a drill-down search strategy, (from broad to narrow), which makes RFID-101 suitable for beginners and more advanced inquiries. It's layout reveals how the components and terminology that one discovers via the 'Vital Vocabulary' (see glossary) fit together - thus creating a diagrammatic explanation of the technology itself. My only criticism is that you can't click on the topic you want to pursue and be taken directly to it - some manual scrolling is still required, but at least this leaves the chance for 'serendipity' to occur.

The labels from the home page remain at the top of the screen, (similar to a letter head), so that at any stage you can see your options and make further decisions about where to go. I recommend RFID-101 as a sound resource because as the name suggests, its a good introduction to the topic, and would be useful when demonstrating RFID’s potentiality to new-comers.

Reference:
Welcome to Vanskee. RFID 101. (n.d.). Retrieved May 5, 2007, from
http://www.vanskee.com/