2010, March 9 - Cham, Switzerland. In February 2010, Bibliotheca RFID Library Systems was awarded the RFID installation contract for the University of St. Gallen (HSG), one of Europe's leading business universities. The Swiss company fulfilled all the tender criteria.
"In assessing the supplier award criteria, the size of the project, the company's domestic base and its proven experience in the Aleph environment were definitely in its favor," as library director Dr. Xaver Baumgartner explained. And Bibliotheca's offer also went down well in terms of price, technology and proposed solutions for optional components, while the company outperformed its competitors in the service area. "Bibliotheca clearly provides more effective support services at a more cost efficient rate, with a 7-day round-the-clock hotline as well as much better response and intervention times," added Dr. Baumgartner.
The decision in favor of RFID initially derived from the familiar benefits of user check-out. But there were other considerations, too: "The BiblioChip system can be extended on a modular basis and therefore grows with our needs," explained Marlis Werz, deputy library manager. "This is an extremely positive point because we are planning to introduce a return facility including two-way sorting next year."
The open access holdings of some 410,000 media with four mobile stations are being converted during ongoing operation. An estimated 3,000 working hours will be required for the job. The three-week conversion of the counter and the installation of the RFID components will be carried out in August. The system will be up and running for the start of the semester on September 13, 2010.
