WML Tech Updates

I had hoped that one of my first entries could be about something fun and interesting, innovative and inherently geeky, but noooooo. It’s about VUprint, the campus-wide pay-for-print service. But alas, here is the conclusion to what seemed like the ongoing saga of Whitney_color (the Okidata color printer) and its almost seemingly destined partner, VUprint.

After much talking with Flo about all the advantages and disadvantages of putting the color printer on the VUprint system, we have decided to stick with having users pay for their color print jobs the old-fashioned way: monetary transactions with library staff at the Service Desk. If we did choose theVUprint route with the color printer, that would mean forcing users, including Owen students, faculty, and staff, to pay for their color print jobs through VUprint (swiping a card at the Print Release Station) instead of just a simple cash transaction. It would have also meant that everyone would have had to follow directions on how to add the printer since their print jobs would have been routed through theCSprint server instead of the Owen print server. I know how most library staff feel about having to swipe a card for VUprint with just the public workstations, soswiping a card for every single color print job would probably make then want to grab pitchforks and head toward my office.

Enough! What is going to happen? Well, on Sunday when I work, I will swap Blanc and Whitney_Color so people won’t be able to grab their color print jobs and run out the door without paying. Students, faculty, and staff will continue to pay for color print jobs in the same manner as before with good old fashioned cash (or credit card).

However, there is one change that should be noted. The color printer was added as an option at the public workstations in the library. Anyone, Owen and non-Owen people alike, will get charged $.50/page for anything sent to the color printer. (Black and white printing will remain the same at the public workstations, where members of the Owen community will not get charged and everyone else will.)

So even though VUprintis a good thing overall, and does prevent the masses from invading the library to abuse the free printing, it’s not the best solution at this time. We’ll reexamine this issue again when OGSM wants to discuss charging the students for all print jobs.