Less paper waste at the library could be attributed to the change in the printing policy, or simply because frustrated students are finding somewhere else to print.
Dr. Ruth Shoge, the library director, said, "Everything to be printed is spooled to a server. The students go to our staff person at the circulation desk and identify what it is they printed. The assistant goes to the server and hits print." However, some students say they are often told that their document does not come up in the computer, and find that they have to restart the computer or try another terminal.
"It's a five minute job, but it takes a half hour," said sophomore Michele Petrino on the seemingly complicated new system forcing her to allow for more time spent at the library.
Amanda Kasecamp, a library assistant, responds to student pressure, saying, "I don't like how students think that it's our fault when it doesn't print. We don't have anything to do with it. It just goes through the server."
Seeing the good in this change in procedure is not difficult as Shoge puts it: "The new procedure saves wear and tear on the printer and the amount of paper we use. This translates into money down the road." As for recycling the wasted paper, while the bin was emptied two or three times a week last year, Cynthia Grimaldi can confirm that it is now removed maybe once a week.
The change is visible to everyone, especially William Smiley, a library staff member, who says, "Any day last year the [front] desk would be completely covered with stuff." As for troubles with the policy he noticed, "The problem right now is that people don't know what they're printing and we have to fish through it."
As for realizing separate problems associated with the policy change, Shoge discloses, "If printing problems seem to not go away it is because the printer needs work," confessing that the style of printer used in the library was not made to handle the excessive printing common to Washington College students. And when these older printers experience new problems, under contract the library must appeal to the printer's manufacturer, Canon, to send someone down to do work. "I believe Canon needs to be more responsible to us as customers by keeping these machines working and up-to-date."
Shoge stressed her concern with the many problems surrounding the printing process noting, "I fully understand the frustration and I want [the students] to know that I'm equally or more frustrated than they are, because in the library I am responsible for providing them with printing service."
The problems students are now experiencing with the new system are recognized and being addressed by the library staff, and Grimaldi clarifies that "Though the process is still having some growing pains, I think in the long run for anyone concerned about our environment they will understand and appreciate the efforts made by the library and OIT."
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