[OPLINLIST] Document scanning service

Wed Aug 28 13:56:16 EDT 2013

Our library has offered this for some time now.  We charge $1 per page to
fax but $0.50 per document to scan and email.  Just as in Joe's case, our
copier doesn't offer a scan to USB option but it does scan to email.

We've found that having the 50 cent price point accomplishes two things:  

1)      It encourages patrons to switch from fax to email (especially for
very large documents - the cost savings is tremendous)

2)      This in turn greatly reduces staff involvement.  A 50 page document
can take upwards of 30 minutes to fax.  The same document might only take 30
seconds if it's scanned and emailed.

If we had a tech solution in place that would allow self-service scanning,
we might offer that at no charge.  It would depend on if the other coin-op
options available on that machine paid for maintenance costs or not.

Paris Robertson

Technology Coordinator

Upper Sandusky Community Library

TEL 419-294-1345

FAX 419.294.4499

EMAIL  <mailto:robertpa at oplin.org> robertpa at oplin.org

WEB  <http://www.upper-sandusky.lib.oh.us/>
http://www.upper-sandusky.lib.oh.us/ 

From: oplinlist-bounces at lists.oplin.org
[mailto:oplinlist-bounces at lists.oplin.org] On Behalf Of Joe
Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2013 1:33 PM
To: oplinlist at lists.oplin.org
Subject: Re: [OPLINLIST] Document scanning service

We are about to start offering a "scan & email" service to patrons at a cost
of $1 per email sent.  We will use our public copier to scan the item in and
email it as an attachment to the address of their choice.  We envision this
being something that the staff do from start to finish for the patron.  
One reason for doing it this way is that their are no USB ports or other
straightforward ways for the patron to save their document locally.
Additionally, I'm convinced that many of the people who will use this
service would have needed staff help anyway if we'd tried to cut them loose
on something like our copier on a self service basis anyway, so it will go
smoother if we plan to do it for them from the start. 

Our charging is based purely on the fact that this will take staff time.  If
we had a self-service device (that most people could use without help), my
preference would be to not charge for the service.  
I'm not sure why the vendor cares whether you charge for this service or
not..  The only reason I can think of as to why he or she cares is that
someplace like a fedex/kinkos does charge for this kind of service..  

Joe

Joseph Knueven
Director
Germantown Public Library
51 N. Plum St.
Germantown, OH 45327
937-855-4001
knuevejo at oplin.org

On 8/28/2013 1:02 PM, sallen at worthingtonlibraries.org wrote:

Hi Jessica,

We have ScannX Book ScanCenters at two of our locations and are going to add
one to our third location soon. We charge for faxes, but not for scanning.
Our reason for charging for faxes is to recover the costs we incur for the
fax fees. Since we aren't being assessed a fee for scanning we decided there
was no need to charge a fee to the patrons to scan. 

Susan Allen
Director of Technology Services

Find yourself here. 
www.worthingtonlibraries.org <http://www.worthingtonlibraries.org/> 

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820 High St.
Worthington, OH 43085
614-807-2614 

Five-Star Library   |    <http://www.worthingtonlibraries.org/starlibrary>
http://www.worthingtonlibraries.org/starlibrary

From: oplinlist-bounces at lists.oplin.org
[mailto:oplinlist-bounces at lists.oplin.org] On Behalf Of Jessica D. Dooley
Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2013 12:58 PM
To: oplinlist at lists.oplin.org
Subject: [OPLINLIST] Document scanning service

Hello,

Would you share your opinions and practices about charging patrons for
document scanning? If your library provides the public with self-serve
document scanning, is it free, or do you charge? We currently provide
document scanning (to USB only) free of charge, via our coin-op managed
public copiers. We're planning to make the switch to a Book Scan center,
that offers copying/faxing/scanning/printing, all in one unit. Our vendor
would like us to charge for scanning, just as for the other services, but
I'm not entirely comfortable charging for an ephemeral service. Are any
libraries currently charging patrons for scanning?

Thanks for your feedback,

Jessica D. Dooley

IT Specialist

Adams County Public Library

157 High Street

Peebles, OH 45660

937-587-2085

dooleyje at oplin.org

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