I haven't used a 2D barcode in a long time, but the only type I've used
within libraries are QR Codes. That having been said, in my case, it was
always for something to do with digital applications, not the collection.
In general I think QR codes are more flexible. You can tune your balance
between how many characters you want to encode and your level of error
correction, for example (although, to be honest, I never encoded anything
bigger than a url and never bothered to tune the ECL for any of my
limited purposes). I believe QR codes can encode a higher total number of
characters than DM, but that's also going to depend on your level of error
correction. Another thing that's nice about QR codes is that they're pretty
distinctive looking, so I think they're easier to distinguish from other 2D
barcode types at a glance, if that matters.

Best regards,

*Jason Bengtson (he/him/his) | Head of Library Technology Services*

Library Technology Services  *|* * Washington University Libraries
<https://library.wustl.edu/>*

*Washington University in St. Louis*

MSC 1061-0141-0A, 1 Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130

ph : 314.935.6667 | * [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>*



https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9181-3311


On Wed, Jun 29, 2022 at 12:17 PM Jason Best <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hello list mates,
> I'm starting a digitization project that will use some sort of 2D barcode
> to encode an accession record string that will be printed and arranged next
> to archival items (slide box sleeves) then imaged with a camera. The 2D
> barcode in the image will be read by a Python script to rename the image
> using the barcode string and to populate a database of the images. The
> barcode will be affixed to a slide-shaped separator and placed with the
> slides contained by the box in new archival housing boxes. The accession
> records are made of 16-24 characters and we have a square inch or more of
> space to place the 2D barcode. We have 2D barcode scanners that can handle
> either format.
>
> My question to you: do you have a reason to favor QR codes vs Data Matrix?
> I'm leaning towards DM because I've used that for other applications for
> ephemeral item tracking. On the other hand, I'm more familiar with the
> options for generating and reading QR codes with Python (and ZBar) vs DM
> (I'll be trying out pylibdmtx). Is either 2D barcode standard more
> prevalent in the archive or library domains?
>
> Any thoughts, suggestions, experiences, etc. are appreciated!
> Jason
>
> Jason Best
> Director of Biodiversity Informatics
> Botanical Research Institute of Texas
> 1700 University Drive
> Fort Worth, Texas 76107
>
> 817-332-4441 ext. 230
> http://www.brit.org
>