Since the end of summer semester, the Price-Gilbert Library has made numerous changes in its layouts and its amenities, including a new dean of libraries (Catherine Rust-Murray). These changes consist of a greater amount of technology and resources available for students and faculty at Tech.
One of the largest changes for the library and the campus from last year is the new printing system. The new printing system will entail entirely new Xerox laser printers for students in the library and student center computer clusters.
“For returning students, some of the differences they’ll see is that you’ll need your BuzzCard to print,” said Cari Lovins, Office of Information Technology (OIT) information associate.
“This system actually is tied to the blackboard [system] and that’s how they receive their credit for [each] week. They can now release their jobs to [the] central [printing system], and now it’s all tied to the same system.”
The new system not only requires the user name verification and Buzzcard swipe, but also allows for a different amount of paper credit per week. Rather than seeing 99 pages as the credit limit, students will receive 55 pages of credit per week.
“That’s really a misconception. I think a lot of students [think] that they got 100 pages per week. What it was was that students got 100 pages the first week and 50 pages after that,” Lovins said.
In addition, printing will be easier. Students now have the option to have their paperwork stapled, three-hole punched or double-sided with the new Xerox machines.
Although students will be seeing a reduced number of credit, the new credit limit will actually provide more credit in the long run. With the 55-page system, students will receive 40 extra pages (990 total in comparison to 950 total).
Other changes include increased technology, DVDs, cameras, and other computer accessories. The library’s DVD department will now be organized in a way more similar to that of a video rental store, with stickers and more bins. Not to mention, DVD selection now includes more than 600 new DVDs. “One of our primary goals is student productivity, and we accomplish this by providing the tools, assistance, and workspaces that they need. In the traditional sense, we have the information and resources that students can use to do research: books, journals, and other materials. However we also have other types of gadgets, equipment, and supplies, such as software, scanners, digital cameras, video cameras, and drawing tablets,” said Brian Matthews, user experience librarian.
In addition to technological resources, the library will also provide more faculty academic assistance.
“For freshmen, there’s a new position created called [the] first year English instruction librarian. Her role is really to provide support for the English I and II classes. Any help with research is available to them,” said Matthews.