In traditional libraries, librarians perform similar tasks day after day: lending and returning books, classification and cataloging, providing consultation services… tedious and repetitive, much like the constantly turning pages of a book. However, with the development of technology, smart libraries are gradually changing this situation. The introduction of intelligent devices has created a new collaborative model between librarians and machines—human-machine collaboration—significantly improving library efficiency and service levels.
What do librarians do?
Lending and Returning Books: Assisting readers with borrowing and returning books, checking the completeness and proper placement of books and materials.
Consultation Services: Answering readers' questions about library services and materials, providing suggestions on the use of library resources.
Book Management: Responsible for the classification, cataloging, indexing, repair, and binding of books, ensuring the orderly management and long-term preservation of books and materials.
Collection Development: Selecting and purchasing or ordering appropriate books and materials based on reader needs and the library's positioning.
Information Services: Utilizing the library's information resources to provide readers with services such as retrieval, citation, and document delivery. Training and Education: Provide readers with training on library usage and information retrieval skills to improve their information literacy.
Document Delivery: Provide readers with access to resources not available in our library through partner libraries or document delivery services.
Interlibrary Cooperation: Participate in interlibrary cooperation projects to expand library resources and provide more high-quality services.
Promotion and Publicity: Organize book exhibitions, lectures, training sessions, and other activities to enhance the library's visibility and influence.
Other Tasks: Such as maintaining library facilities and equipment, handling reader complaints, and participating in library planning.
What Smart Devices are Used in a Smart Library?
Smart devices in a smart library include various high-tech devices, such as barcode scanners,
RFID readers, and smart terminals. These devices not only simplify library management processes but also provide more possibilities for library services. Librarians can use these devices to complete tasks such as book management and borrowing/returning services more quickly and accurately.
Smart Terminals: Computers or tablets with touchscreens used for book management, reader services, and other operations.
Barcode Scanner: Used to scan book barcodes for book borrowing, returning, and management.
RFID Reader/Writer: Used to read
RFID tags on books for automated book borrowing, returning, and collection management.
Printer/Scanner: Used to print library
Cards, borrowing slips, and other documents; also used for scanning documents.
Smart Card Reader: Used to read readers' smart card information for reader authentication and borrowing record retrieval.
Security Gate Controller: Used to monitor the security gates through which readers borrow and return books, ensuring that books are not illegally taken out of the library.
Voice Assistant Device: Such as a smart speaker or voice recognition device, used to provide interactive library services via voice.
Smart Label Printer:
Used to print labels to mark library books or other materials.
Human-Machine Collaborative Working Process
In a smart library, the human-machine collaborative working model allows librarians to achieve twice the results with half the effort. Taking book borrowing and returning services as an example, when a reader comes to borrow a book, librarians only need to scan the book information using a barcode scanner or
RFID reader, and the system can automatically identify and complete the borrowing procedure. Simultaneously, the system will also update the reader's borrowing record in a timely manner and remind librarians to handle overdue books and other abnormal situations. This collaborative work mode not only improves work efficiency but also reduces the workload of librarians.
Book Management: Librarians can use barcode scanners or
RFID readers to quickly enter information about newly purchased books into the system, including catalog information, classification numbers, and tags, for readers to search and borrow. They can also use smart devices to conduct regular inventory and organization of the library's collection, ensuring that the location and status of books match the system records.
Book Borrowing and Returning Services: When a reader comes to borrow or return a book, librarians can process the borrowing and returning procedures through a smart terminal. By scanning the book's barcode or
RFID tag, the system can automatically identify the book information and complete the borrowing and returning record, while simultaneously updating the reader's borrowing record. The system will also alert librarians to handle overdue books or other abnormal situations.
Reader Inquiry and Consultation: Librarians can use smart terminals to provide readers with services such as searching library holdings and borrowing history. Through the system's search function, they can help readers find the books or materials they need and provide relevant consultation and advice. If readers have special needs or questions, librarians can also use smart devices for online consultation or to search for solutions.
Information Dissemination and Promotion: Librarians can use smart devices to create information dissemination and promotional content for the library, including event notices, exhibition introductions, and new book recommendations. Digitally, they can quickly publish this content to the library's website, mobile app, and other platforms, delivering the latest library information and resources to readers.
Statistical Analysis and Management Decision-Making:
Liberal staff can use smart devices to perform statistical analysis on library borrowing data, reader usage, and other data. Through data visualization tools, they can quickly generate statistical reports and charts, helping library managers understand collection utilization and make more reasonable management decisions.
Benefits of Human-Machine Collaboration
Human-machine collaboration brings numerous benefits to
RFID smart libraries. First, it improves library service efficiency, enabling readers to access the books they need more quickly and enhancing the quality of library services. Second, human-machine collaboration reduces the incidence of human error, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of library management. Furthermore, human-machine collaboration creates more work possibilities for librarians, allowing them to focus more on providing better services and undertaking more diverse tasks.
With the development of smart libraries, human-machine collaboration has become a new trend in library management. Through the assistance of smart devices, librarians' work has become more efficient and convenient, and the level of library services has been improved. In the future, with the continuous development of technology, human-machine collaboration will play an even more important role in smart libraries, bringing readers a better service experience.
