Monday Minutes: RFID and Koha

by Kelly McElligott on Jan 30, 2023

In this week’s Monday Minutes Kelly and Jessie talk about RFID with Koha with David from McKinney Public Library.

RFID

In most libraries, Koha is a building block for what is used in Libraries. There are a number of integrations a library can connect to Koha to streamline the workflow of staff, and RFID is one of them.

RFID- what is that?

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a technology that uses radio waves to passively identify a tagged object. It is used in libraries to keep track of items checked out of the library.

David, at McKinney Public Library, was happy to talk with us about how his libraries integrate their RFID process seamlessly through Koha.

For their Self Check out stations, which are using the Koha Self Checkout Module, they use an RFID pad to allow users to easily check out material. The software that works with Koha is installed in the background, so the patron does not have separate steps- just simply place the book on the pad, and it will check out to their account.

More about the Koha Self-Checkout Module

Monday Minutes: Self-Checkout Module

At the staff desk, they are also using the RFID technology behind the scenes to either checkout material to the patron or check it in. There is an additional window on the staff's desktop usually hidden from view to work the RFID process. Staff can either check items one at a time through this process as the patrons do with the self-checkout module, or the staff can use the Batch Checkout Option in Koha, which would allow them to place a stack of books on the scanner and Koha will process the batch of them together.

More about Batch Checkout in Koha:

Koha Question of the Week: What are Batch Checkouts?

More Koha Integrations

Koha can work with so many different products and vendors - if you are interested in learning more about how easy it is, please don't hesitate to reach out to us!

Here is a link to our 3rd Party Integrations.