Paper jams, printers offline, and tray misalignments have become an increasing problem for students printing in Mossey Library. The college’s contract with Business Impressions Inc. for printers expired this year, and the library is in the process of making upgrades to the printing services it offers.
Mossey is nixing personal laptop plug-n-play printers for wireless printing.
“Plug-n-plays have their own issues,” Library Director Dan Knoch said. “They’re slow. They’re not as durable. We would have to buy new ones. Wi-Fi printing will revolutionize printing on campus.”
Internal Technology Services and the library teamed to offer students the ability to add Mossey’s printers to their database of devices and print directly from their laptops or iOS, but not Android, devices, Pauken said.
“The world has moved toward a bring-your-own-device infrastructure in the last few years, and it’s time we get on that train,” ITS Systems Administrator David Pauken said.
The original software for connecting to the printers had some bugs. Working out the kinks to make the experience as simple as possible delayed the instructions, Pauken said.
According to Knoch, the directions for connecting wirelessly are now on the MyHillsdale portal under the campus tab at the top of the screen called “AirPrint,” and will soon be displayed in the library.
Additionally, new Xerox printers and copiers are replacing old ones across campus. The library updated its current Xerox color copier and printer, but also replaced its copy-only cohort.
These new Xerox copiers come with the ability to save to a flash drive, especially helpful, according to Public Service Librarian Brenna Wade, when students have large files to send to themselves. Students should also note the color copiers now default to printing on both sides to save paper.
The copiers were expected to arrive the week after students returned from Christmas break, but the first was delayed one week and installation of the second occurred last week. The two new kiosk printers that will replace the pair on the first floor are also on delay, scheduled to arrive at the end of the month.
“Xerox is currently constrained on a limited number of products, but we have escalated our need to have the replacements as soon as they become available,” President of Business Impressions Inc. Jeff Bassett said.
Student library employees said they are eager for the new printers as the current kiosk ones seem more “temperamental” than usual, according to sophomore Noah Diekemper.
“They’re in need of replacement,” senior Elisabeth Wynia said. “Often the printer will not print from a certain tray because it thinks the trays are not adjusted to the size of the paper, but they are. There’s more jams because there’s more business to each tray. We’re facing issues with computers kicking printers off their network. At this point, my main job as a reference desk worker is to fix printers.”
Until the new printers arrive, students are asked to use LIBKIOSKX55 more because both trays on that printer work, and to print PDF files in Adobe. Students should delete any pending prints from their queue if a printer malfunctions, so unneeded tasks aren’t made when the printer is fixed. Finally, they should notify the reference desk employee or a librarian when a problem does occur, to allow them to deal with the issue and keep records of the problems. The Lane and Old Student Union computer labs have printers available too.
Nevertheless, the staff is thankful for the durability of the printers, which have printed 2-3 million pages each, according to Wade.
“They’re the highest-used printers on campus,” Knoch said. “They’re extremely durable and fast. They basically provide the entire college with the ability to print their papers. This is one of the services we provide, and we’re happy to. We want it as good as it possibly can be.”
