2020 Volume 2020 Issue 30 Pages 490-499
Few surveys have ever been conducted on tracing user behavior in libraries; and hence few analyses of user behavior based on such surveys are available. The phenomena are attributable to the difficulty to acquire user behavior information by using an observation method. In this experiment, I aim to find out whether wireless technology can be used to obtain the card (with IC tag) information of a user who moves around in a library. For this, I have used an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) equipment already used by libraries. I have chosen this equipment because it is readily available and the equipment already in use can be easily put into further uses. This being a basic experiment, I limited the scope of my investigation to 1) analyzing the characteristics of the antenna that receives the card information (i.e. specifying the reception range), 2) identifying the conditions that obtain between the antenna and the card to acquire the user information, and 3) to spot the antenna positions that lead to acquiring the information of users who roam among bookshelves. I have found that 1) the antenna used in the library (the flat kind in use on a desk at the time of lending and returning) has high directivity, and card information can be acquired only in a narrow range; 2) a way needs to be devised to keep the card in some distance from the human body, for the RFID equipment employed this time, which uses UHF waves, are strongly affected by moisture; and 3) user behavior information can be acquired by adjusting the angle and height of the antenna. I propose 3) as a solution to 2). However, since user movement was traced in a relatively narrow range in this experiment, I believe multiple antennas need to be used to supplement each other. I conclude that it is possible to acquire the information on the movement of library users with existing equipment; and that it takes some adjusting of the antenna characteristics (including change of antenna models).
