About the Library

WISDOM FROM COFFEE!

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university lecturer. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee,the lecturer went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic,glass, some plain-looking and some expensive and exquisite, telling them to help themselves to hot coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the lecturer said: "If you noticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up,leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the better cups and are eyeing each other's cups." "Now, if Life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, but the quality of Life doesn't change." "Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it." So please, don't let the cups drive you...enjoy the coffee instead.

10 Reasons Why the Internet Is No Substitute for a Library, By Mark Y. Herring

Not Everything Is on the Internet
The Needle (Your Search) in the Haystack (the Web)
Quality Control Doesn’t Exist
What You Don’t Know Really Does Hurt You
States Can Now Buy One Book and Distribute to Every Library on the Web—NOT!
Hey, Bud, You Forgot about E-book Readers
Aren’t There Library-less Universities Now?
But a Virtual State Library Would Do It, Right?
The Internet: A Mile Wide, an Inch (or Less) Deep
The Internet Is Ubiquitous but Books Are Portable

For Explanations Visit : www.ala.org/ala/alonline/selectedarticles/10reasonswhy.htm

RFID - The basics

RFID is a technology that uses radio waves to automatically locate and identify individual products, place and transact data quickly. An RFID system comprises of an electronic portable device called transponders or tags, an antenna, a controller and a reader. These systems communicate via radio signals that carry data either unidirectionally or bidirectionally.
An RFID tag is made of three components, an antenna, a substrate and an integrated circuit. The circuit comprises of coded information that draws power from a magnetic field to transmit information back to the reader. The tag can be of two types, active (emitting radiation) or passive (not emitting radiation), which means that tags can broadcast information or just transmit when queried by a reader. The tag can be either read-only or read-write. Passive RFID tags have a limited range of around 50 cm, while active tags can transmit up to 85 cm, which can be detected by high-frequency readers. Tags can store a vast range of data, including product serial number, manufacturing and expiry dates.
The purpose of the antenna is to transmit radio waves to and from the mobile tracking device. The controller manages this communication and moves the data between the antenna and the personal computer or PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) device. A PLC device is an RFID reader and writer machine that has both an internal antenna and a controller.
The reader emits radiation to a tag, which helps in detecting products if it is within the reach, usually within 100 meters. The reader automatically captures data transmitted from the tag if it is within the prescribed range. RFID readers can be of low frequency, high frequency or UHF (Ultra High Frequency), and can support a very broad range of protocols. There is also a choice of low-power readers, and high-power readers for intensive operations. Readers can be easily set up anywhere because the tags do not need to be in line-of-sight of transmit.