At the beginning of the Spring semester, students were introduced to a new way of picking up their prints on campus. In previous years students would sign in to the printing stations in order to print out their papers and assignments. However, because this system was old and often prone to failure, IT realized Saint Anselm College’s need for a new printing system.
The process of finding a new way to access prints began late in 2010. Scott Field, the customer service manager for the department of Information Technology, said the plans for the new system were put into place before he began working here, and though he does not know who came up with the idea, it was much needed. Field also said that the old system took up too much space, and the new one is much more efficient.
The new way of accessing prints is simple: students just swipe their cards on a touch screen which contains what they would like printed, and they select their print. This way of picking up prints is much faster and takes up less space.
There have been mixed feelings about the new system among students; some students love the new system while others wish it was a little different.
Sara Marden said, “It is a lot quicker and easier, in my opinion, to swipe your card and print than logging in.”
Others, however, do have concerns.
Aaron Baker said, “The new printing system is fine – I like it, but I hate how I can’t Ctrl-A and print everything all at once anymore, especially since I usually print a bunch at once. Also, I wish Print Anywhere would start supporting Operating System (OS) 10.8 soon.”
Other students also agreed that they would like to see the Print Anywhere System compatible with OS 10.8.
Some other complaints about the system have come from commuters who don’t always carry their card with them. This is why some students feel there be should be an option to either swipe their card or login.
One of the concerns that Information Technology is working to fix is how clubs access their printing money. Since clubs do not have an individual card to swipe, it has been difficult for them to access their printing funds. Currently, members of each club have had money put on to their card to use specifically for club printing. IT is working on having cards for each club in the library that students can check out to access their prints while using club funds to pay for them.
Though only the pickup stations for printing are new, once IT has worked out all of the details it seems like Saint Anselm College will have a highly efficient printing system.