Net-Print service center will be fully operational by fall By Beth Goelzer Lyons   In Sept. 1998, Net-Print will graduate from pilot program to full production service center, thanks to its initial success and extraordinary growth. Net-Print lets students print across the network on fast, high-resolution laser printers and bill the charges directly to their bursar accounts or to special cash accounts. Several fall enhancements are planned. Departments will have the option of paying for a fixed number of pages printed for class assignments. Net-Print will be accessible through EZ-Remote. Supporting Net-Print will be easier for departmental and library computing labs who are using a VendaCard system or currently have no way of managing printing costs. The center is also exploring high-volume printing options to support the explosion of course materials being delivered online and, in response to students' environmental concerns, ways to limit the cover pages that identify each printout's owner.

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Introduced in 1996 by Cornell Information Technologies (CIT) as a pilot program to replace the VendaCard system of paying for laser printing, Net-Print has become extremely popular. As many as 13,000 pages are printed per day, compared with 10,000 pages per month on the VendaCard system. The printing queues in the labs are also much shorter now and students obtain their printouts more quickly.   In the old VendaCard system, laser printing was done on a stand-alone computer connected to a printer. Students brought their documents on diskette to this computer, swiped their VendaCard (carrying a pre-purchased dollar amount) and initiated the print job.   With Net-Print, students do not have to switch computers, wait in lines, carry cash or manage VendaCards. After registering on the web, students can use Net-Print on any networked computer to print on any Net-Print printer they choose. Students can track the printing progress, and cancel their jobs or switch printers as needed. Printing charges appear on the student's monthly bursar bill, and may also be reviewed through the Net-Print web site.   "Many times when I've needed to use the printers in a CIT lab over the past four years, I have been unable to since I either did not have a VendaCard or there was no money on it," wrote a graduating senior in a recent e-mail message. "The Net-Print system gives me the option to print at any time regardless of whether or not I have the card or money on me-which I usually don't. Thanks!"   Net-Print is available on CIT's ATS (Academic Technology Services) lab computers, and can be installed on any networked Macintosh or Windows computer, including those on ResNet. At $0.10 per page, Net-Print costs less than VendaCard, which was $0.15 per page. (During the pilot program, prices varied by location between $0.06 and $0.10 per page.) For more information, visit the Net-Print web site (http://www.cit.cornell.edu/cit-pubs/net-print/). This article originally appeared in the 30 April 1998 Cornell Chronicle.