All printing in Miner Library is now fee-based. The fee is 10-cents per page for black and white, and 60-cents per page for color. This fee applies to all users, students, faculty and staff.
Users will have to swipe a URID card or copy card at a release terminal and select the print job from a list to get it to print. At Value-Transfer Stations (VTS) in the library, users can add funds to their ID cards and visitors can purchase visitor cards. Departmental copy cards may also be used to pay for printing. Some users who have never paid for printing or photocopying with their ID cards will have to have them activated for a flex account by calling 275-3975.
This system has been implemented because printing volume has tripled over the last few years. Costs grew out of control, and the system was overloaded. Before, you may have noticed long queues of people waiting for print jobs, computer rooms that were full, and piles of paper to sort through to find your print job. We are throwing away more than a thousand pages a day at these printers, needlessly killing hundreds of trees and polluting the air and water through unnecessary paper and toner production. Print charging improves this, reducing print volume by more than 1.5 million pages a year.
Q: How was the price be determined?
A: The price covers the total cost of printing. We added up the expected cost of toner, paper, printer maintenance, printer replacement, printing support, and the print-charging system, and divide by the expected number of prints. The price may be adjusted from year to year to reflect these costs.
Q: Do double-sided pages cost double? Is there a discount if I save paper by printing on both sides?
A: Prints on two sides of a page do count as two prints. When you print a double-sided document the only cost savings is the paper. But double-sided printing has its own costs, such as the duplexer in the printer, and additional staff support to help people configure double-sided printing. Double-sided print jobs are also slower and are more likely to jam. There is no discount for double-sided printing because the total cost of double-sided printing is about the same as the total cost of single-sided printing.
Q: How does the system work?
A: Release terminals are installed at each printer. When you print your job you will asked to give the job a name. You may also specify a password if you want to keep the job private. Then go to the most convenient printer and select your job from the release terminal. You will see the price again, and slide your UR ID card or copy card to pay. Printers are pooled together, so if there is a line or a problem with the nearest printer, you will be able to move to another printer to select and retrieve your print job.
Q: How do I add funds to my card?
A: There are two value transfer stations (VTS) in the library. You can insert cash and swipe your UR ID or copy card there to add funds to your card.
Q: How does the system benefit me?
A: You are less likely to have to wait in line before you can get your print job. Since people will not be coming to the library just for free printing, you will have less trouble finding a computer to use. And once you print your job, you will not have to sort through other print jobs to find your own. The library now also offers offering color printing (for 60-cents per page), and upgraded the printers. You may also be pleased to know that this system should reduce print volume by more than 1,500,000 pages per year, saving hundreds of trees and reducing environmental waste caused by paper and toner manufacturing and disposal.
Q: Can I print from my laptop?
A: Windows laptops that are able to connect to the network will soon be able to download a program that lets them print to the system, at the same per-print prices.
Q: Will any ID Work? Undergrad, Housekeeping, Nursing, Warner?
A: Any card that can be used to pay for photocopies in the library will work automatically. If you have never used the library photocopiers, you may need to activate your card by calling the OneCard customer service center at 275-3975. Undergrad UR ID cards and Medical Student ID cards should already be activated. If you have a visitor card that you use for library photocopying you should use that card; it will work automatically.
Q: What if I forget my ID card one day?
A: You can borrow a card from the Computing Center help desk or from the Circulation desk; you'll need to pay cash for the fund you use off the borrowed card.
Q: I'm an undergraduate from the River Campus, will I be able to use my undergraduate river campus printing money?
A: It depends. The system will accept payment from your flex account, or from cash you've put on your card at the VTS terminals in Miner Library or a River Campus Library. However, it will not accept payment from the River Campus printing system directly. You can't use the "UR Printing Account" which has money you may have added with a charge to your undergraduate term bill.
Q: What if I have additional questions or concerns about this?
A: Contact Mike Bell by email, mike_bell@urmc.rochester.edu
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