Diversified technology company, 3M, has announced that it has started a six month pilot with Bridgeall Libraries at the University of Sunderland. The pilot will investigate the combined power of Smartsm software and 3M Digital Library Assistants (DLAs).

As a component of the 3M RFID System, the ergonomically designed, cordless, hand-held DLA instantly reads 3M RFID Tags on library materials, turning activities such as shelf-reading, shelving, sorting and exception-finding into routine tasks.

Smartsm was created to help improve the performance of stock, allowing libraries to meet the standards demanded by today's high-quality service culture. The software provides comprehensive analysis, proactive advice, and effective performance monitoring of current stock and proposed purchasing. It help identify stock to be removed from a collection and provides suggestions on intelligent rotation of both fiction and non-fiction collections based on demand. As the DLA can hold information on more than one million items, downloading action plans generated within Smartsm is quick and simple.

Paul Woolvine, 3M UK & Ireland Sales & Marketing Manager for Library Systems, said: “With the advent of the Smartsm application it is now even easier than ever for library staff to run routine stock management tasks and export these onto handheld devices. At the click of a button it is now possible for any library to take advantage of all the benefits that RFID stock management brings.”

Reinforcing the collaboration, 3M was pleased to jointly exhibit with Smartsm at the Westminster, QE2 event – RFID in Libraries. For the first time in public, the stock management solution of Smartsm and the 3M DLA were demonstrated alongside the latest 3M RFID Selfcheck Systems, with integrated ‘Fines and Fees Cash Payments’.

Ian Downie, Commercial Manager at Bridgeall Libraries said, “This was the first public viewing of the stock management solution working with 3M’s Digital Library Assistants (DLAs). The power of Smartsm when combined with the DLA is phenomenal. There was a great deal of interest in the solution and the event was a real success for us. Smartsm is clearly a unique and powerful application in the field of stock management and the benefits it brings when added to 3M RFID results in a truly compelling stock management solution.”

For more information about the 3M Library Systems solutions, visit www.3M.co.uk/library.

For more information about Smartsm, visit www.smartsm.com