The cost of consumables was one issue, maintenance of networked printers was another. Our solution has been to disable all printing from computer workstations. Users are now required to download all search results. For printing we provide a single stand alone pc with Copytex card controlled laser printer attached. Our Senior Information Services Librarian, Karin Smith has created a menu to cater for the different download formats.
Users select the appropriate database to print out results.
I am sure Karin would be pleased to provide further details. There was very little adverse reaction from students in our move from free dot matrix printing to laser printing at 10 cents per page. Volume of printing from databases within the library has fallen as many users have opted to take their results away on disk to print at home or in the computer centre. Staff from the University of Western Sydney have looked at our sytem with a view to modifying it to accept swipe cards. We are just installing what we call a print kiosk for this type of printing.