Printing for Dollars

The library started charging for printing yesterday and the world didn't end. Of course, it was Fall Break, so we didn't have very many people on campus. As these things go, it went remarkably well.

I pretty much expected some problem that no one expected and we got it--people who have lost and replaced their ID cards in the last few months were able to log on to our computers but not to the printer release station where they actually pay the money. There's an extra number that indicates whether this card is a person's second card (or fifth--I saw a student yesterday who was on his fifth card). That's an understandable security precaution when there is real money involved so that someone can't use a stolen card to continue making purchases, but it wasn't something that the library had encountered. The Systems people here can manually fix it and are working on a way to get the database updated automatically. It seemed like half the students who tried to print had this problem. If that percentage holds up, I imagine that the people who are having to manually fix it will be highly motivated to come up with a solution.

Labels: library insider

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