The Office of Information Technology recently unleashed ePrint, which University officials say should make printing in OIT computer labs quicker, easier and more eco-friendly.
In the weeks between the end of Summer Session Term II and the arrival of students for the fall semester, OIT installed print release stations next to the printers in all of the PC and Mac labs. Jen Vizas, manager of Academic Technology Services, which oversees OIT's computer labs, said the Unix labs will soon have release stations as well.
Each release station consists of a monitor, card swipe and mouse. When a student wishes to print a document, he must enter his NetID when sending the document from his computer and then swipe his DukeCard at the print release station. He then selects the document he wants to print from a list of print jobs, which are available in the ePrint system for 12 hours.
"This solution should reduce the amount of time a student spends at the printer sifting through paper to find their document and cuts down on paper waste," Vizas said.
She added that ePrint allows students to print to any OIT lab or quad printer from their residence halls or wireless laptops once they have downloaded the appropriate client software.
OIT's ePrint system uses Pharos Systems' Uniprint software, which can track, monitor, measure, route and optionally charge for network printing. Vizas said the software is used widely throughout colleges and universities.
Although some students said they were worried that the University could start tracking and charging for students' print jobs, Vizas said OIT is not planning on monitoring student printing at this time. "We have the capacity to do that, but we're just trying to increase services right now," she said. "People will be able to move quicker, and they won't be waiting on people who monopolize all the printers at one time."
Vizas said students have generally reacted in favor of the new ePrint system. Junior Vivian Wang said the new system is not only convenient but also "environmentally conscious."
"Before, when people printed, lots of papers would get left in the tray because students couldn't find what they printed," Wang said. "Now it keeps track of what you print. So it increases individual awareness, which will probably save paper."
Vizas said OIT should know within the first couple weeks of ePrint's operation how much paper the system will save. She noted that some universities have saved anywhere from 20 to 40 percent after switching to Uniprint.
However, Vizas emphasized that ePrint's primary aim is not environmental preservation. "The main reason we did this is increased services and selectibility in print locations," she said. "Before, you could only send jobs to one printer. If there was no paper in that printer, you would have to go back and reprint, which could be a hassle if you had already closed the window you were working with. Now, you can just go to another release station and swipe your card."
Still, some students were wary of the new system. Junior Michael Mahdi said ePrint was "more tedious than anything else" and that it could be a hassle for students in a rush.
Vizas said ATS is now looking to work more with Duke Office Products to allow students access to high-end printing. Eventually, she said, students may be able to send print jobs to Devil's Duplicates, where they can have their documents printed and even bound.
ePrint could also turn up elsewhere on campus, such as in the main part of Perkins Library, where students often print papers off e-reserves. This transition would not go through ATS, however, as Vizas' office deals only with OIT computer labs.
Will Rosenthal contributed to this story.
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