Alden library replaced all of the old printers over winter break.
Printing at Alden Library may be easier for Ohio University students after officials replaced all the library’s printers over winter break.
OU’s contract with its printing vendor, ComDoc, allowed for the 20 Hewlett-Packard printers, which are located throughout the building.
“There was a committee set forth and the library was very adamant in insuring that we could continue the service in its former glory with the new printers,” said Philip Skocich, IT support specialist. “The new printers are of the same quality and a lot had gone into trying to make sure there was no interruption (when classes were in session), which there was none.”
Alden’s new printers are “kind of the direct replacement” of the old printers, which had a lifespan of about four years, Skocich said, adding that OU is “basically locked into doing ComDoc printers at this point.”
Student prices for printing range from three to 50 cents, depending on both the type of ink used and paper size. Prices have not changed as a result of the new printers, officials have said.
OU entered the five-year contract in 2012 in the hopes of cutting back on printing costs.
Currently OU pays ComDoc $148,176.25 per month, which includes about 950 printers on campus.
“This fee includes toner, maintenance and repair for all of those printers plus monthly lease costs for the ComDoc owned devices,” Sean O’Malley, IT communications manager, said in an email.
Alden’s new printers cost nothing since the price is accounted for in the contract, Skocich said.
The new printers have “very much the same mechanism” that the old ones did, Skocich said.
Sara Korenewych, a junior studying health administration and an Alden Library Learning Commons student assistant, liked the touch screen component of the new printers.
Out of the 20 new printers in Alden, 18 print exclusively in black and white and two print in color.
The Music and Dance Library, located on the fifth floor of Glidden Hall, also received a new monochrome printer as a result of the contract.
Devon Moske, a junior studying communication studies, said she noticed the new printers work faster and more efficiently.
“I’ve had no problems with the new printers,” said Moske, who uses library printers about three times a week. “I’m glad they got new ones.”
@megankhenry
