University Libraries’ Initiates Laptop Wireless Printing for Students, Faculty

Beginning April 18, 2007, the University Libraries initiated laptop wireless printing for students and faculty. Using this service, which is free to students and faculty, almost any document or webpage can be printed from one of the University Libraries’ public printers. To use the service, the requestor clicks on www.bsu.edu/libraries/laptopprint.

Michele A. Faroh, former Student Government Association Secretary and M.B.A. graduate student said, “This is a huge service for students with laptops and a big time saver.”

Dr. Arthur W. Hafner, Dean of University Libraries commented, “Daily in the University Libraries, we are seeing a large increase in the number of students using laptops and small-screen smart devices. We are confident that this new service will enhance student productivity for research, learning, and class projects being completed in the University Libraries.”

The printing service requires the requestor’s e-mail address, the name of the file or Web page that will be printed, and identification of the public printer where the file will be printed. The service then captures the file or webpage, sends it off-campus to a third-party server and returns the file to the campus for printing. The e-mail address identifies the print for the requestor who has 90 minutes to “release” the job for printing and pick-up at any one of five printers in the University Libraries selected by the requestor. No additional software or steps are required for using this service.

Currently, the service allows for printing of over 100 file formats, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio, Adobe PDF, Fax, JPEG, and TIFF. The requestor can request that the document be printed at Bracken Library at one of three locations (Periodical/Reserve area, first floor near the north entrance, or in the Educational Resources Collection) or at the Architecture Library or the Science-Health Science Library.

For more information, contact Bradley D. Faust, Ball State University Libraries’ Assistant Dean for Library Information Technology Services, BFaust@bsu.edu, (765) 285-8032.

This newsletter article first appeared in The Library Insider 5(4): 3; April 2007.