The study sought to investigate the use of RFID technology as inventory control in academic libraries in South Africa, with a focus on the University of South Africa and the University of Fort Hare libraries. The objectives of the study were to describe the current inventory control practices at the libraries of the University of South Africa and the University of Fort Hare in order to determine the infrastructure required for the use of RFID for inventory control for the University of Fort Hare’s libraries; to evaluate the benefits of RFID technologies, in order to gain a competitive advantage for the University of South Africa’s and the University of Fort Hare’s libraries; to identify the challenges associated with adopting RFID technology, as experienced by the libraries of the University of South Africa and the University of Fort Hare. The study adopted both the quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The researcher followed a rigorous methodological path that began with a thorough literature review coupled with the careful and thoughtful posing of research questions and objectives. A purposive sample of forty (40) respondents was selected from the library staff from both the University of South Africa and University of Fort Harelibraries. The collected data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences 23 (SPSS 23) and Microsoft Excel 2010. The findings of the study revealed reasons for both academic libraries to invest in RFID technology; these reasons include RFID’s ability to deliver self-service options, inventory control, improved reader access and improved security. The challenges related to the implementation of RFID technology are also related to staff not being rewarded by library management for being innovative; the difficulty of staff learning new technology; the staff’s inability to generate new ideas for the library; and the staff not being able to share knowledge with each other. Further research needs to be conducted by library RFID vendors in order to meet the need, of academic libraries, for RFID inventory control. RFID hardware and software (API software) should be subjected to further investigation for the purposes of research and development. Libraries should work closer with RFID vendors so as to trial and test hardware and software.

M. Tech. (Department of Process Control and Computer Systems, Faculty of Engineering and Technology), Vaal University of Technology. / Radio Frequency Identification Technology (RFID) technology is increasingly being used in multiple applications due to its low cost and ability to provide a high quality of identification. The cost benefit of RFID system is seen in the reduction in labor required to perform routine tasks such as inventory. With RFID, inventory-related tasks can be done in substantially less time compared to other commonly used auto-identification systems. Recent research has illustrated the application of RFID in multiple application scenarios. RFID can be used for real-time patient identification and monitoring in hospitals, but also for product expiration-date management in retail industries. Some enterprises in South Africa uses a combination of RFID technology and Internet of Things (IoT) to detect misplaced products and to detect low stock levels. Furthermore, RFID is also used for inventory management in libraries as discussed in this dissertation. In this dissertation, a combination of RFID and ZigBee technologies was used to reduce the time spent to perform inventory in libraries. An inventory management system was designed, simulated and built in order to count and locate books inside a library hence improving inventory process time in libraries. The overall results were satisfactory which lead to the achieving of the objectives set in this study.