Elf's and library security systems -Reply

[Dan Lester]

>>> alikemp <alikemp at tpgi.com.au> 08/05/97 10:29pm >>>
I am interested in hearing from anyone who considered the
implications 
of electromagnetic emmissions from electronic library
security systems
when selecting and installing a new system. 
-------
We thought about it for about two minutes.  End of story.
==========
Do you have any concerns? Do you know what level of EMR
your staff are operating in? Have you decided against system
due to possible implications? Design factors to limit EMR. 
-----------------
I have NO concerns, and have never read anything of a
SERIOUS and scholarly nature that has given reason to be
concerned.  I've heard a couple of comments from friends who
don't even want to walk or jog under power lines, but I
consider that to be freaky and illogical.  One friend won't walk
with me, since my usual route takes me under some 33KV
lines a hundred feet in the air for a minute or two out in the
middle of the desert.  To each his own.

Our Campus Safety people can and do EMR readings, and
they've not been concerned about this area, which they know
about.  They're also not concerned about it from
contemporary monitors or TV sets.  They say it all meets
USA federal standards by a wide margin.  So, that is good
enough for me.  

I've worked with 3M TattleTape systems for over twenty years
in five libraries, and have never had a complaint or problem in
these areas.  The newer ones don't require as much
maintenance and frequent tuning, and are much more
reliable.  I'm also quite positive that you'll find that their
detectors are passive, and are not radiating fields at all times.
 They are VERY sensitive to nearby CRT monitors, and you
must keep them ten or more feet away from the security
system to avoid confounding it (distance depends on brand,
shielding, orientation of the two devices, etc.).  That alone
should give you an indication that any fields relating to the
security system are extremely low.  Plus, people only walk
through them for brief periods of time, further minimizing any
fears.

This is probably getting way off topic for web4lib, but you may
wish to take it to circplus at idbsu.idbsu.edu, where this has
been discussed in the past, and where there are more people
with such concerns.  

cheers

dan (owner of circplus, etc....)



Dan Lester, Network Information Coordinator
Boise State University Library, Boise, Idaho, 83725 USA
voice: 208-385-1235   fax:  208-385-1394
dlester at bsu.idbsu.edu     OR    alileste at idbsu.idbsu.edu
Cyclops' Internet Toolbox:    http://cyclops.idbsu.edu
"How can one fool make another wise?"   Kansas, 1979.

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