Alternatives to Printing   Tags: ebsco, ejc, exporting_documents, firstsearch, jstor, myfiles, osearch, printing, proquest, wilson  

Printing costs

• $0.05 for a one-sided black-and-white page
• $0.09 for a two-sided black-and-white page
• $0.18 for a one-sided color page
• $0.35 for a two-sided color page

Printing costs will be deducted from your BG1 card or your printing allocation.

To add money to your BG1 card, use the black machine across from the circulation desk (takes cash and credit cards) or online through MyBGSU. See the BG1 website for more information about deposit options.

Directions for printing in the Jerome Library reference area

For black & white printouts:

• Select Library 150-4510 as your printer (this should be the default) or Library 150-4510 Guest
• Go to any printer in the main computing area
• Release your print job by swiping your ID OR entering your BG username and password at the computer next to the printer

For color printouts:

• Select COLOR as your printer (for guests, COLOR - GUEST)
• Click on "Preferences"
• Click on "Color Options" and choose a color option (usually "Automatic Color")
• Hit OK, then Print

Color prints are sent to the copier that is located behind the Research & Information Desk. Log in by swiping your BG1 Card or guest copy card or by using the touch screen to enter your user ID and password. You will then have the option to release your color print job.

Printing as a guest user

Guests (without BG usernames and passwords) must buy a guest copy card and add money to it. This can be done at the black machine across from the circulation desk. The cards should have a number on them. Guests will be prompted to enter this number when they print and at the release station. They should select printer Library 150-4510 Guest. (Old copy cards do not have numbers printed on them, but library staff can look up the number associated with them so they can be still be used for printing. Ask at the Research & Information Desk for more information.)

Please direct any questions about printing costs or allocations to Campus ITS. There is a questions/comments form on the Print Responsibly web page.

Now that printing in the library is no longer free, it makes even more sense to print less! You may choose to read on-screen or print only sections of readings. When doing research using library databases, there are also other ways to print less.

Instead of printing, try...

1. Saving articles online
   When you save links to citations and articles online it is easy to go back to them from any computer with an internet connection. 
   1. Save them to a social bookmarking site
      If you have an account on delicious.com, CiteULike, or even Facebook, you can use buttons to quick-link citations and articles to those sites (EBSCO and the EJC both offer this). If there is no quick-link, look for the "persistent url" to the citation or article you want to save, and upload that url to your online account.
      Advantages: all of your articles are saved in one online account
      Disadvantages: not all databases have quick-link buttons; sometimes it is hard to find the persistent url for a record; the persistent url may not be formatted for off-campus access
      
      
   2. Save them to a RefWorks account
      RefWorks was designed to automatically format notes and bibliographies, but can also serve as a general repository for your research.
      Advantages: all of your articles are saved in one online account; most databases have a direct export to RefWorks; the Find It! button makes it easy to link from RefWorks to full text; it is easy to organize citations into different folders for different assignments; RefWorks is available to alumni so you will still have access to your citations after you graduate (though not to full text) 
      Disadvantages: uploading articles from databases without a direct export can be confusing; you need to be on campus to create a RefWorks account
      
      
   3. Save them to a personal account in a library database
      Many databases allow you to create a personal account to set search preferences (like language or other interface options) and save searches and articles. MyEBSCOhost and MyEJC are two examples. 
      Advantages: ability to set preferences, ability to view your search history as well as saved items 
      Disadvantages: need to remember a number of different logins and passwords; will not be able to access after graduation
      
      
2. Saving articles to a personal drive
   The "export" option in most databases will allow you download and save citations and full text. 
   1. Download them to a thumb drive
      Advantages: virtually unlimited storage; your files will be available even if the database you used is not 
      Disadvantages: thumb drives can be misplaced or forgotten
      
      
   2. Upload them to myfiles.bgsu.edu
      MyFiles offers 1 GB of online storage to every BGSU student, faculty and staff member. Access it by visiting http://myfiles.bgsu.edu and logging in with your BGSU username and password. 
      Advantages: available from any computer with an internet connection; all items stored in one place; files will be available even if the database you used is not
      Disadvantages: necessary to download articles and lists of citations as pdf, html or txt files before uploading them to myfiles; not as easy to organize into different folders
      
      
3. E mailing articles to yourself
   Most databases also offer a direct e mail option alongside other export options for either citations or full text, allowing you to print or save files later.

Can't live without printing altogether?

PrintWhatYouLike.com is a free online editor that lets you select and print only the parts of a web page you want to print, so you can eliminate large pictures, banners, ads, comments, etc., and save paper.

When you save links in Facebook, e mail, delicious.com, or wherever you like to find them later, they have to be both persistent and proxied in order to take you back to the same page again from on or off campus.

Not all persistent urls are proxied urls. Proxying a url prompts off-campus users for a login.

Persistent url from JSTOR
     (will only work from on campus):
     http://www.jstor.org/stable/3556958

Proxied persistent url from JSTOR
     (will work from on or off campus):
     http://0-www.jstor.org.maurice.bgsu.edu/
     stable/3556958

Many of our databases automatically format persistent urls as proxied, but, if not, you can set them up yourself.

- Before the domain, add 0-
- After it, add .maurice.bgsu.edu
- Leave the rest of the url as is

Now the url should prompt you for your BGSU login if you are off campus.