question: How do these computers work at a library where you put stacks of items on a shelf and it automatically checks them in or out without scanning barcodes?
comment: RFID. The books have a thick sticker, probably in the back cover, with an antenna programmed to that book. The shelf reads those tags. Source: worked in library that made the transition to those tags. Tagged several thousand books.
passages: Libraries that have scanned (part of their) book collections – especially books from the hand press period – can use the so-called digital platform to let their users discover and navigate digitized materials.
  
  Section::::Modules.:Archival descriptions.
   The bookBot is the robotic system of book storage and retrieval utilized at the James B. Hunt Jr. Library. The system consists of four 50-foot-tall robots at the center of the book-delivery system that traverse between rows of book bins. The bookBot is able to barcode, sort, and store books (as well as other items) in more than 18,000 bins. Visitors can watch the bookBot retrieve materials through a glass wall on the first floor of the library, called Robot Alley.
   Although a handful of experimental systems existed as early as the 1960s, the first large-scale online catalogs were developed at Ohio State University in 1975 and the Dallas Public Library in 1978.
  
  These and other early online catalog systems tended to closely reflect the card catalogs that they were intended to replace. Using a dedicated terminal or telnet client, users could search a handful of pre-coordinate indexes and browse the resulting display in much the same way they had previously navigated the card catalog.
   In the United States and Canada, almost all public libraries have computers available for the use of patrons, though some libraries will keep users timed to allow others to get turns and keep the library less busy. Users are often allowed to print documents that they have created using these computers, though sometimes for a small fee.
  
  Section::::Public computers in the United States.:School computers.
   When the cafe reopened in 1997, it had one computer per dining table, plus two that were exclusively for checking email. In total, there were about a dozen public-use computers.
   Installed applications of this technology can be wide-ranging. In some libraries, such as at University of Nevada, Reno library, such a system is employed to retrieve books. Still others in use involve retrieval of bicycles from a bicycle tree, as in the case of systems in Japan.
  
  Section::::Libraries using automated storage and retrieval systems.
  
  BULLET::::- University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia
  
  BULLET::::- California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, California
  
  BULLET::::- California State University, Northridge, Northridge, California
  
  BULLET::::- University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida
  
  BULLET::::- Chicago State University, Chicago, Illinois
  
  BULLET::::- University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
   In 2007 the company TREVENTUS presented an automated book scanner with a book opening angle for scanning of 60°. Which is an improvement in the area of conservation of the books during scanning. The company was awarded with the European Union "ICT Grand Prize 2007", for its development of the ScanRobot®. This technology was also used in a mass digitization project from the Bavarian State Library where 8,900 books from the 16th century became digitized using three of these v-shape scanners within 18 months. 
   Up to two million books can be stored in the bookBot's delivery system. Compared to storing books on traditional shelves, the delivery system can store the same number of books while only using 1/9 the size of that. Out of approximately 25 American academic libraries, the bookBot system in the James B. Hunt Jr. Library is the only one in North Carolina.
   Libraries have used RFID to replace the barcodes on library items. The tag can contain identifying information or may just be a key into a database. An RFID system may replace or supplement bar codes and may offer another method of inventory management and self-service checkout by patrons. It can also act as a security device, taking the place of the more traditional electromagnetic security strip.
  
  It is estimated that over 30 million library items worldwide now contain RFID tags, including some in the Vatican Library in Rome.
   The first fully automated book scanner was the DL (Digitizing Line) scanner, manufactured by 4DigitalBooks in Switzerland. The first known installation was at Stanford University in 2001. The scanner received a Dow Jones Runner-Up award under Business Applications Category in 2001.
   At one time, borrower's cards used at Dayton Metro Library use the nearly 40-year-old Codabar barcode format, with the symbol 'A' preceding and following the account number in the barcode proper. As of at least the early 2000s, all cards issued begin with the sequence 10060 or 10061, followed by 8 digits, with the exception of online-only cards, which begin with the sequence 10065.
   Once the page is scanned, the data is either entered manually or via OCR, another major cost of the book scanning projects.
  
  Due to copyright issues, most scanned books are those that are out of copyright; however, Google Book Search is known to scan books still protected under copyright unless the publisher specifically prohibits this.
  
  Section::::Large-scale projects.:Collaborative projects.
  
  There are many collaborative digitization projects throughout the United States. Two of the earliest projects were the Collaborative Digitization Project in Colorado and NC ECHO – North Carolina Exploring Cultural Heritage Online, based at the State Library of North Carolina.
   The robot is first set up so that it can operate the computer as well as hold the Kindle. The image capture software must already be running on the computer and the Kindle must be open to the first page of the book to be scanned into the computer. The robot then runs through a loop where it hits the spacebar to activate the camera on the computer and then uses finger-like robotic appendages to turn to the next page on the Kindle. This loop is then repeated until all pages have been scanned into the computer. Optical character recognition (OCR) software is then used to convert the scanned images into a duplicate of the original Kindle e-book in a plain text file.
   Increasing technological advance has presented the possibility of automating some aspects of traditional libraries. In 2004 a group of researchers in Spain developed the UJI Online Robot. This robot is able to navigate the library, look for the specified book, and upon its discovery, carefully take it from the shelf and deliver it to the user. Because of the robot's extremely limited function, its introduction into libraries poses little risk of the employment of librarians, whose duties are not defined by menial tasks such as the retrieval of books.
   The machines were developed by the Swedish company Distec and have been used in Stockholm for several years. They were introduced in California and was first used on the Bay Area Rapid Transit system at its Pittsburg/Bay Point, El Cerrito del Norte, and Millbrae Stations. The Pittsburg and El Cerrito machines are operated by the Contra Costa Public Library System. That library also has a machine at Sandy Cove Shopping Center in Discovery Bay, California, a town without a local library. The machine in Millbrae is operated by the Peninsula Library System.
   TREVENTUS
  
  Treventus is a company based in Vienna, Austria that was awarded the European ICT prize 2007 in Hannover, Germany for inventing an automatic book scanner, called ScanRobot. This innovative scanner is able to scan entire books automatically, handling the books carefully.
  
  Section::::Performance.
  
  The ScanRobot SR301 has a claimed operating speed of 2400 pages per hour. The book scanner scans two pages at once and turns the pages automatically using a vacuum to pick up the pages and using an air flow to turn the pages.
   In the mid-2000s, Swedish company Distec invented a library book vending machine known as the GoLibrary, that offers library books to people where there is no branch, limited hours, or high traffic locations such as El Cerrito del Norte BART station in California.
  
  Section::::Usage.:The Internet.
   In 1990, the library system decided to use the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) to catalog books and other items. OCLC has become a vital part of the information infrastructure that supports research, scholarship, and learning around the world. 
   In 1997, the Library moved to a state-of-the art web based online catalog. "CardCat" can be accessed from the SVSU homepage or directly at . The catalog features keyword access, limit/sort capabilities and "hot links" within the database as well as to other web resources. The library homepage includes an Internet Launchpad, access to CardCat and the library main menu.
   BULLET::::- automate all back-office tasks in a library (cataloguing, authority control and thesaurus management, patron administration, circulation, ordering, subscription control, electronic resource management, interlibrary lending and document delivery) and an archival institution (ISAAR authorities, archival acquisitions, ISAD descriptions, descriptions of objects such as manuscripts, photos, letters, …)
  
  BULLET::::- offer electronic services to the library end-users (online public access catalogue, SMS services, personalized MyLib-environment, document requests, alerting service, self-renewal, …)
   In August 2006, the libraries of Uskudar American Academy and SEV Elementary School successfully installed a new library automation program. The program, named Destiny, is a product of the Follett Software Company.
  
  Section::::Program.
   BlackDog
  
  The BlackDog is a pocket-sized, self-contained computer with a built-in biometric fingerprint reader which was developed in 2005 by Realm Systems, which is plugged into and powered by the USB port of a host computer using its peripheral devices for input and output.
   Most high-end commercial robotic scanners use traditional air and suction technology while some others use alternative approaches like bionic fingers for turning pages. Some scanners take advantage of ultrasonic sensors or photoelectric sensors to detect dual pages and prevent skipping of pages. With reports of machines being able to scan up to 2900 pages per hour, robotic book scanners are specifically designed for large-scale digitization projects.
   Collection development or acquisitions librarians monitor the selection of books and electronic resources. Large libraries often use approval plans, which involve the librarian for a specific subject creating a profile that allows publishers to send relevant books to the library without any additional vetting. Librarians can then see those books when they arrive and decide if they will become part of the collection or not. All collections librarians also have a certain amount of funding to allow them to purchase books and materials that don't arrive via approval.
  
  Electronic resources librarians manage the databases that libraries license from third-party vendors.
   All Berkeley Public Library branches have self-checkout machines. Patrons can use these to check out materials themselves by putting scanning the items and their library card. This checkout method works for all media—books, CDs, DVDs, etc.—and provides the patron with a receipt for the items. All branches still also offer checkout from library staff at circulation desks.
  
  Patrons can also request and renew books over the Internet from their homes, or over the telephone.
  
  Section::::Tool lending library.
  