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Laser Printing at Medical Library Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Starting January 10th, 2002, the Library has initiated the COPICO payment system for laser printing in the Medical Library. Because a variety of user communities will feel the effect of the decision to charge for laser printing, we hope this FAQ can address the most obvious and frequent questions. Please submit additional questions and comments to Charles Greenberg, the Head of Reference Services and Chair of committees that decided and implemented the service.
Contents of this Page

Cost and Usage

Student Issues

Problems with Printing

Alternatives to Printing

The Decision Process to Charge for Laser Printing

Basic Usage and Cost

How much do I pay for a laser print? $.10 is deducted for every print, the same as a library photocopy. Any COPICO card can be used for both photocopying and laser printing.
Where do I get a COPICO card? There are several COPICO card vending machines in the Medical Library, including the Information Room, the Photocopy Center, and the Computer Resource Lab (CRL). A reusable card valued at $.60 is purchased from a vending machine for $1.00. Value can be added to this card at the same dispensing machine. A $40.00 card can also be acquired at the Library Circulation Desk with an account (PTAEO) number or credit card.
Can I print more than one item at a time? Yes. There is a "select all" option to print all items displayed for your workstation. But be sure they are all yours. Print orders are held for 1 hour so items fromthe previous user may still be listed. You can also selectively delete some items, then select all to print the remaining items.
How long can I wait to go to the Pay Station and get my printout? All print jobs sent to the pay station are held for 60 minutes, then automatically delete. If you take more than one hour, you will have to re-send your print job.
Do I need to delete things I don't want? No. The items will automatically be deleted after one hour. You can, of course, go to the pay station and delete jobs, if you want to.
Can I get help printing? Information or Circulation Desk staff can help you print an article. They can send an article from their station to the Pay Station, where you can use a COPICO card to retrieve the printout.
Can I print from a wireless laptop in the Library? Not at present, but we hope to do this in the future. Wireless computing is still in test mode at the Medical Library, and technical issues are being discussed..
Does the Computer Research Lab (CRL) have the same system? Yes.
I just need to print one record from the online catalog (ORBIS). Do I have to buy a card for just one copy? Library Information or Circulation Desk staff will be happy to print ORBIS records for library patrons.

Student Issues
Don't Medical and Physician Associate (PA) students get a card to use? Yes. Medical and Physician Associate students may pick up a COPICO card for personal use at the Medical Library Circulation Desk. Please remember that each student is allotted three $20 cards annually (one card given at a time, 600 copies total) plus an additional two $20 cards in the year the student writes a thesis.
Why do Medical and PA students get cards? Why not Nursing, BBS and EPH students? Nursing and EPH students have separate schools that support free printing in alternative locations. BBS students have printing facilities in their labs. These students may purchase a normal photocopy card for either print journal copying or laser printing.
I'm a Yale undergraduate and purchased a COPICO card at Sterling Memorial Library. Will that card work for laser printing in the Medical Library? Yes. Any COPICO photocopy card purchased at a Yale Library should work.

Problems with Printing
I sent a print order to the pay station from a Macintosh, but nothing appears in the pay station list for my computer. If you know how to check the Macintosh chooser for printer assignment, be sure that the chooser is set for Glenn, our Macintosh pay station printer. Re-select Glenn, if necessary. If you are not sure how to check the chooser, the library staff should know to check and return your computer setting to point to Glenn.
I sent a print order to the pay station from a Windows computer, but nothing appears in the pay station list for my computer. Be sure that you have entered the computer ID displayed in the carrel. It is usually a set of initials followed by a two or four digit number (for example, CWML2003 or CWMLNT26). If you typed the number correctly, it is also possible that you waited more than an hour after sending a print request. Print requests automatically expire after 60 minutes.
I was using a Macintosh productivity station at the round table, but no jobs were listed when I put in my computer ID. What's going on? Because of technical issues, print jobs from the four productivity Macintosh workstations in the Information Room require you to use your NetID (e.g., cg23) at the pay station.
My laser copy is poor. Do I get a refund? The Medical Library's priority is to get you an acceptable copy. We will try to reprint one for you immediately from a staff location, or issue you a library COPICO card and direct you to an area where you can try again. If this is not satisfactory, you may fill out a form at the Circulation Desk that we will forward to COPICO. They will issue a refund when they can verify the loss.
My COPICO card stopped working and is giving an error message in the card reader. What do I do? The same procedure that applies to damaged photocopy cards also applies to Pay Station use. Simply complete a form at the Circulation Desk which documents your problem. COPICO will issue a replacement card for the amount of value left prior to the problem, and the replacement card may be picked up in the Medical Library administration office at a later date.

Alternatives to Printing
Can I save an electronic article to a disk to print at home? Yes. The technique varies depending on the computer format of the electronic article and where you are accessing it, but there is usually a way to do a "save as" function. Some Medical Library computers require that you be logged in with your Yale NetID to do this. Ask a library staff member for help if you are not sure. Nearly all scholarly electronic resources are also available from your office or home computer for direct printing. Medical and PA students also have a "virtual drive" file storage space, available on Windows computers when you log in with your NetID, that would allow you to store a document for later print or download onto a disk.
Can I use a library computer, but send the printout to my lab? Some Medical School Campus laboratories are on the Apple Talk local area network. A Library Macintosh can be set to print to another location with Apple Talk networking. If you print to a remote location, please remember to reset the Library Macintosh to its original printer, Glenn. Printing to a remote location from a Windows computer is not permitted.
I would print at home, but I have AOL and can't view Yale electronic journals. Any solution? You can do this using the Medical Library's proxy server. You will need to fill out a quick form and then configure your browser to use the proxy. Read how to use the proxy. server

The Decision Process to Charge for Laser Printing

Why does the library have to charge for laser printing? Laser printing expenses went up nearly 500% between 1997 and 2000, and a large proportion of laser printed output was piling up as waste. With costs of library materials increasing every year, the Library created a plan to control laser printing costs. Rather than inhibiting printing or decreasing acquisition of either books or journal subscriptions, a plan to charge was proposed, reviewed, approved, and implemented.
Doesn't my tuition cover printing? The School that receives your tuition decides how to apply that tuition to expenses such as central services, including library resources and services. Faced with increasing costs of library materials, the Medical School directed the Medical Library that maintaining book purchasing and journal subscriptions is more important than offering free printing for all. However, medical students, having no other school-based printing facility outside the Library, will receive a subsidy for 600 copies per year. If you are a medical student, you could probably say that the library part of your tuition covers this service and your subsidy.
Why start now in the middle of the school year? The Medical Library actually intended to initiate this service in September 2001, but a plan to replace computers in the Information Room, as well as printers took precedence. Based on the desire to limit waste, a January implementation seemed to be the next best choice.

Please send questions or comments to Charlie Greenberg

Revised: January 11.2002 cg