Beginning in July, students, faculty and staff will be able to quickly and conveniently copy and print articles, books, journals, course materials and dissertations, along with brochures, flyers and other documents, at the University’s new academic publishing and copy center.

The center’s main location will be in Weiner Library at the Metropolitan Campus and replaces the current print shop at Woodridge Avenue in Hackensack. In addition, enhanced capabilities are being provided at the College at Florham in the copy center location in the Mansion.

Art Petrosemolo, associate vice president for communications and marketing, who will oversee the operation, says the center will offer state-of-the-art services at competitive prices focusing on high-speed, digital-electronic imaging. And, for the first time, both campus locations will be able to supply color copies and materials.

“Technological changes are rapidly altering this industry,” Petrosemolo said. “Traditional offset printing is being augmented by digital, electronic equipment capable of imaging in full color and, in the same operation, folding and stapling in a variety of formats, manufacturing booklets right in the copier.” Also, the new systems will digitize analog items (hard copy documents) and store them for future changes and reprints.

Located in the library on the Metropolitan Campus, the center will be close to students, faculty and staff who need its services. In the new operation, to be called Copies + Plus, high-speed Xerox Nuvera copiers, capable of delivering more than 100 copies per minute, will allow customers to wait for their work, if needed, or drop off documents to pick up later in the day.

Petrosemolo added, “We will have an online submission system so PDF files can be uploaded directly to the copy center for quick turnaround. Jobs can be sent to either center from either campus giving staff a number of options to meet tight deadlines.”

Petrosemolo added that the center has been in the planning stages for nearly a year and fulfills a vision of University President J. Michael Adams to offer cutting-edge services that take advantage of new technological developments and the growing availability of digital books, journals and academic materials.

Citing Google’s recent ventures into digital book downloads and a recent announcement by the Library of Congress to create a World Digital Library, an online collection of rare books, manuscripts and other materials, Adams said, “This is just the beginning. University Librarian James Marcum has been telling us the library of the future will be much different, and this operation, capable of printing books, journals and dissertations, among other documents, will put this University in the forefront of academic publishing.”

Marcum described the new center as “an exciting venture into uncharted territory.” He said he has two goals for this initiative. “The first is to further FDU’s intellectual heritage and accomplishment. While seemingly unlimited amounts of information are available on the Web, the importance of the key monograph on a given issue will not disappear but will become precious value-added knowledge that people will want to read in its entirety. Since the economics of traditional printing is leading to smaller runs of these important presentations of knowledge, new windows of opportunity will be opening. Likewise, resistance to expensive traditional textbooks presents opportunities for faculty to present new materials for classroom use.”

His second goal, Marcum added, is to “generate small but growing revenue streams to allow the library to keep up with the new information, knowledge and learning revolutions. For example, I think there are opportunities to make new agreements regarding published faculty books that currently are out of print. We have 400 PhD dissertations and 5,000 master’s theses containing knowledge that should not simply languish on library shelves or in microfilm cabinets.”

Marcum said he “invites faculty, administration and staff to join a dialogue on how FDU can enter the new publishing universe in ways that not only will enhance our visibility and stature as a university, but will make important contributions to knowledge and global understanding.”

Library staff will be designated on each campus to help users navigate copyright and intellectual issues relating to publishing materials for academic use.

In the new system, all University copying and offset printing work will be coordinated through three individuals: University Publications Director Carol Black, University Communications Consultant Mary Kukovich (who will continue to coordinate most of the admissions and marketing literature) and a new print production coordinator who will oversee the center. “This coordinated system will allow us to maintain a high quality level in design and printing of all external and internal pieces,” Petrosemolo continued, “as well as further the University brand, assuring it is used in the appropriate fashion.”

Petrosemolo plans to meet in early spring with departments who are major users of the current print shop or require a high volume of printing and copying to explain the changes and help to make a smooth transition. The new system will allow cost control that will save departments money for printing and imaging. Petrosemolo stressed that this initiative will be built using existing funds and requires no additional expenditures.

Finally, for the first time, both operations will be able to handle individual student printing as well as work for student organizations, utilizing FirstCard technology. “We are excited about the ability to work with students fulfilling their needs,” Petrosemolo said, “allowing them to do on-campus what they now have had to do off-campus.”

More information on the new operation will be available in future issues of Inside FDU on the Web as well as through the FYI e-mail messaging system.

December 2005/
January 2006

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Flor =
College at Florham, Madison, N.J.

Metro =
Metropolitan Campus, Teaneck, N.J.

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