There’s a lot of changes on campus this year; some are smaller than others.
The Jack Tarver Library and the Academic Resources Center updated their printing system.
“Students can print directly from a jump drive. They can print from a cloud based service such as Dropbox or Google Drive. They can email directly from the computers here at the lab, or from their home computers using printme.com,” said Amy Tureen, research services specialist at the Jack Tarver Library.
Ricoh Printing System will give students more time efficient options. Wesleyan University and University of South Florida are other institutions that have implemented this new printing system, according to their libraries’ websites.
Mercer library and ARC computers are still available to use for printing.
When using these computers, people are required to enter an email address. They will receive an email with a bar code. The barcode will be scanned using a tablet that is at any printing kiosk available. Right now, the library and ARC are the only locations that have incorporated this new ged.system, Tureen said.
The same tablet used to scan barcodes is used to charge for printing. The price to print has not changed. It costs 10 cents to print in black and white while it costs 35 cents to print in color.
The printer also allows documents to be scanned without charge. The scanning process is similar since it allows a direct connection to a jump drive or other cloud based services.
The printing service is receiving mixed reviews from students.
Freshman Julia Parks used the library’s printer and found that it was simple to use.
“It wasn’t too bad to get used to. It gives you instructions that are pretty easy to follow,” Parks said.
Sophomore Andy Chiang prefers the old printing system.
“Last year it was a lot simpler because all you had to do was type in your Mercer ID and go straight to the printer,” Chiang said.
Unlike the previous system, people are not required to use Mercer computers to print documents.
Since the printing system is new and not everyone knows about it, some people attempt using the old printing system and are confused to learn that it no longer works the same way, said Amy Gratz, a research services librarian.
However, once they figure out the new system’s options, such as being able to print directly from a flash drive," they seem to be pretty impressed,” Gratz said.
The printers arrived at Mercer last week so there are still technicalities that need to be worked out, said Jeremy Brown, Mercer’s associate director for technical services and systems.
It is a process to get used to the new system, but the options it provides are beneficial, said Ricoh technician Sam Waldron.
“This thing will do a lot more than we even know. It will do a lot more as we learn to play with it,” Waldron said.
New printing system comes to library, ARC
