Lab Management is constantly trying to refine and improve the campus
computer rooms.  We are considering implementing duplex printing (printing
on both sides of the page) at several other computing facilities.
 
  Your name was selected from a random sample of clients who have used 307
SurgeIV.  As a result, your responses to this survey represent many users.  
Please reply to this survey so that your views will be properly
represented.

  The survey contains six questions which are listed below.  To answer
the survey, reply to this message and mark your answers to the questions
below by putting an "x" or text, as appropriate, between the square
brackets provided (eg. [x]). Since a program will automatically tally your
responses for later analysis, please keep your responses between the
square brackets provided. There is a space for comments at the end of the
survey.

Thank you for your time and input.

                        Tim Leamy
                        Information Resources
                        tcleamy@ucdavis.edu

***** 307 SurgeIV Duplex Printing Survey *****

Lab Management recently installed a duplex printer (prints on both sides
of the page) in 307 SurgeIV.

1. Compared to single-sided printing, do you consider duplex printing
  [] better
  [] about the same
  [] worse

2.  Did you print out anything on the duplex printer in 307 SurgeIV?
  [] Yes - proceed to question 4
  [] No - continue with quesion 3

3. Was the duplex printer the reason you didn't print?
  [] No 
  [] Yes.  Please explain [      ]
  You're done.  Skip the rest of the questions.

4. Did the duplex printing meet your needs.
  [] Yes
  [] No
  [] Some of the time.  Please explain [      ]

5. Would you like to see duplex printing available in other computer rooms?
  [] Yes
  [] No

6. Do you have any other comments regarding duplex printing?
[]

Thank you for your time and input.

Question 1: Compared to single-sided printing, do you consider duplex printing ...

	Number	Percentage
better	104	63.4%
about the same	46	28.0%
worse	9	5.5%

Question 2:  Did you print on the duplex printer in 307 SurgeIV?

	Number	Percentage
Yes	122	74.4%
No	38	23.2%

Question 3 (For those who did not print):  Was the duplex printer the reason you didn't print?

	Number
No	33
Yes	1

The only listed reason was " I needed to print out a paper on one side only"

• when i need to turn in essays duplex printing is not presentable. However it is great for priting out class notes because i get to save paper
• It was sometimes difficult when i needed to print on single sided because that would mean that i would have to give up my computer station and have to w ait 30 mins to an hour to get a computer in a lab with single sided printing to print a final document.
• For some of my classes I needed the backside of the page to take additional notes. Also I did not use this lab to print out my term papers.
• Duplex printers are good for printing notes and any other materials that do not need to be turned in.
• when I print things out for my > personal use (like study notes or things o ff the web I like two sided > printing because it saves space and paper
• ok for most things but not for official papers/homework
• most of the time when i was printing out stuff just to get a hard copy of it and when i was doing research online less papers to carry around. once in a w hile i had a paper or class assignment due and then it would be necessary to onl y print on one side. that was not problem since the computer room right next do or had a one sided printer. it would be a good idea to have that option. it woul d even be better if we could send the print outs we want to the printer we would like to use.
• It saves paper but I would like the option for some pages to be printed on a single page.
• unless it was for a paper which >i had to turn in where i needed it to pr int on only one side
• for papers that weren't for class meaning they were more for research and s uch yes they did meet my needs but i wouldn't print up a paper due for class th rough duplex printing
• sometimes single sided printing is necessary
• To save paper. But sometimes one-sided prints needed for term papers etc.
• It was better for my particular >assignment but others like papers do no t need duplex printed works.
• My professor requires one-sided homework.
• i like not wasting paper when i print nonacademic items but otherwise i pre fer non duplex printing.
• Some instructors prefer single side print jobs but it is great to have the option of duplex printing.
• It Meets my needs when I am >Getting research off the Web but not when I p rint an essay
• papers need to be single sided so it only help so as not to waste paper
• Using duplex printing is good for essays.
• It depended on where I was going to ues the document. If the document was g oing to be > turned or to used for professional work I used single sided print ing but other wise duplex printing was used.
• as long as it was only one page
• Professors may not like it
• for lecture notes
• sometimes it didn't print; there were errors
• sometimes i wanted the back side of the pages blank so that i could take som e notes
• Professors do not want your final draft papers to be doub;e sided but I had to go to that computer room because it had the smallest line. It would be nice if their was an option of printing single dided or double sided.
• not for papers/final > drafts-looks sloppy & unprofessional
• in a large print job
• Sometimes i want single sided. it would be nice if double is default but gi ve us the option to use single if needed
• Essays need to be one side
• Sometimes I need one-side printing eg: to prepare assignments
• printer has a head problem; > some parts of the printout are lighter than others regardless of amount > of toner in printer. Duplex printing isn't good for working with > computer code because it makes comparisons difficult. Actu ally an old > dot-matrix printer with fanfold paper would be better for workin g with > code.

Question 6:  Other comments on duplex printing.

• I love the idea of duplex printing because it greatly reduces the amoun t of paper that I end up carrying around with me. However the quality of th e printouts in 307 Surge IV is quite poor. Printouts with large letters see m to come out very nice but normal-sized text and spreadsheets often have s treaks where the print is very light. Because of this I cannot use the dupl ex printer for anything that will later need to be photocopied or in cas es where I want the document to look professional. I've noticed this proble m throughout the Spring 2000 quarter and have notified the lab attendents ab out it. When this happens the printer does not say that the toner is low s o the attendant usually shakes the cartridge but the quality does not impro ve. Is the poor quality a characteristic of all duplex printers? If it is then I don't think it makes sense to buy more of them. However if the pri nt quality were the same as the other printers I would love to see them at all of the labs. I think it would be good though to have an option to p rint on one side only or to be able to send a document to a single-sided pri nter.
• save paper!
• i think it's excellent. however it should be an option not mandatory. pe ople can help save paper in printing drafts or class notes but sometimes they n eed to turn essays in which don't look good on duplex printing
• I think it is a great idea-- protecting the environment
• Duplex printing is great when you have to print large documents. It saves pa per and space (because you would have to carry twice to amount of paper). I use it to print out notes that I can take to a test. In combination with the duplex printing I print two or four pages on a side. It's a great space saver and I think more of these printers shoul exist in other labs.
• I think duplex printing is fantastic for getting material off of the interne t so that paper isn't wasted. And as far as paper goes I think the computers c an still be used: just insert a blank page between each page. I hope to see dup lex printing more available.
• Yes don't just restrict us to printing in duplex only give us the option of not printing in duplex.
• Goo stuff. Use it to print large PDFs - saves paper and I don't have to car ry or staple a fat stack.
• It is nice because it saves a lot of paper but not all computer labs should have it since the majority of students use computer labs to print up term paper s.
• When print we should have the option of printing on the regular printer on t he duplex printer.
• I think this is a great way to save paper. I feel that most people print out lecture notes at these labs therefore i think we might need more printers that can shrink pdf file like 4 slides on one side.
• Yes I think it would be better to have one duplex printer and one single-si ded printer in a lab room; this way students like myself would have the option to choose the type of printing they need. But I do think duplex printing is a g ood idea because it saves a lot of paper.
• duplex print is great saves paper only bad thing about it is if you need to turn in a paper so you should have an option of just printing one-sided..
• It should be available in computer labs as it saves a lot of paper-and spac e in binders !
• I would use a duplex printer but also for those certain times I would like t o also be able to print pages on a single page.
• have it automatically do duplex printing but also have the available >opti on to only print on one side (for example for papers you need to turn >into cl ass)
• takes too long.
• Obviously it will save trees. Since there are times you actually need sing le sided printing it would be nice if that were an option in printing on a duple x printer. Thanks.
• i study the notes i print out better if it's on one side of the page. plus i can write notes on the back if i have something i want to remember. i can't do that with duplex printing.
• Duplex printing would be good in other labs but not if it means single >pri nting will no longer be available.
• I haven't got around to finding a use for duplex or any printing recently. I haven't used the duplex printing function but I think it is a good idea that it is available.
• It is a good idea but I don't think that it should be in a majority of the computer labs b/c having it in too many labs may create a flux of people going t o the labs where there is single side printing.
• Definitely saves paper!! There should be more labs with it!!
• It saves lots of paper and because many teachers are putting class notes o n line it makes lots of sense to have duplex printing.
• It saves lots of paper and because many teachers are putting class notes o n line it makes lots of sense to have duplex printing.
• Great idea!!! This will save on paper...almost everything I print will be f ine on two-sided paper
• I didn't know there was a duplex printer.
• Duplex printing is good espectially for lecture notes and sample exams etc . but we should also have the option to choose one-side printing since some ins tructors want the assignments/papers to be in certain formats.
• I really like duplex printing because it saves paper and I like most of >my documents which are mainly class materials or practice exams printed >on bot h sides.
• duplex printing is good to print things that don't need to be turned in but we still need single sided printers
• I like the fact that duplex printing saves trees and reduces waste. I thin k it shoudl be used more. However there are still times in which I would like to have the opportunity to print out stuff only one-sided. Thus I think more d uplex printers should be used while still preserving the ability to occasionally print one-sided stuff
• Instead offerring only duplex printing or only single sided printing set the default to duplex printing but allow the user to > return to single sided print ing if need be.
• Duplex printing is a great way to save paper and to keep our binders lighte r. I am in favor of more duplex printing but I think there should be the optio n to turn it off for special print jobs if need be. I prefer to print such thin gs as essay single sided. I do not want to insert blank pages in a long documen t to do that.
• get rid of it and just have standard one page printer
• it's worth it because it saves paper
• I like the double sided printing. There are some things that I can print do uble sided & I like saving the paper. However I wouldn't like the rooms to be "switched over" to only double-sided printers as some things for class I need s ingle sided but as an option it would be helpful & I think a lot of people wou ld take advantage of it.
• I found the duplex printing machine very helpful Spring quarter because I wa s required to print out lecture notes for one of my classes and the double sided pages REALLY made a difference less weight on my binder.
• make it a choice
• it would be a lot better if duplex printing were in every computer lab b/c it saves paper
• you should give students an option of whether or not to print on both sides. to your benefit and for the environments benefit students would most likely o pt for the 2 sided thing so that they have to carry less paper around.
• See 4 and 5
• I feel that the duplex printing helps in the reduction of paper use but you also have to consider the fact that most students print out papers for classes which unfortunately need to be printed on one side only.
• I think it's really good. I don't know why most other labs don't have it. It saves so much paper. I wish other labs had it because I go to 307 Surge IV when I know I want to print something else.
• I like duplex printing because it saves paper but it should be optional. T here are times when we need single-sided print.
• Its practical: saving both paper and space. However it would be nice to b e able to choose whether or not you want duplex or single sided printing every t ime that you print something out. When printing out a paper that is to be turne d in for example you would not want to print it with a duplex format.
• ITS GREAT. IT SAVES PAPER AND TIME. I BELIEVE IT WOULD BE BETTER TO >IMPLEM ENT MORE DUPLEX PRINTERS BUT ALSO KEEP A FEW (2-3) COMPUTER LABS FOR >THOSE PEO PLE WHO DO NOT WISH TO HAVE DOUBLE SIDED DOCUMENTS.
• I was overjoyed to have the duplex printer available! I think that it is a major improvement and would like to see duplex printers in all of the computer l abs on campus. Considering that our university irresponsibly uses paper that is not 100% recycled and that is uses paper which has been bleached releasing ha rmful dioxins into the environment I applaud attempts such as the duplex printe r to save paper! THANK YOU! It would be nice if all print jobs were done on bo th sides unless the computer user took the energy to specify otherwise for a sp ecific print job. In the future can we have Kenaf Hemp or Unbleached recycle d paper to print on? I would be extremely supportive.
• good option but cannot replace others must still have a choice
• Be sure to include the current print option in those rooms as well
• I think that this will help lower the amount of paper used but there is st ill the problem of having teacher's accepting double sided prints. Personally I haven't experienced that yet but I still wonder if teacher's will accept tha t. If it is accepted then I would prefer double sided prints. It shouldn't be a problem.
• Same comment as in #4. An option available in the printing settings for sin gle-sided
• save the trees print in gray scale fast and low quality printing
• General printing is good on duplex printers. It reduce money for the labs b ut also reduce the among of paper I have to carry around.
• Would it be possible to have printers that allow you to choose either duplex or single page printing? I think duplex is a great idea- it definitely will cut down on the amount of paper being used in the computer labs but in some instan ces I have to print out a paper for a class that must be on single pages. If it was possible to make duplex printing the default in the labs but give students the option to print on single pages if they must this would make everybody a h appy camper.
• I think it's a great program to save paper and resources. It also helped >b ecause it was required for one of the class.
• It might be an option which will reduce paper waste

• Lab Management Student Survey (Spring 2000)
• Lab Management Faculty Survey (Spring 2000)
• Lab Management Student Survey (Winter 2000)
• Lab Management Faculty Survey (Fall 1999)
• Lab Management Faculty Survey (Spring 1999)
• Lab Management Student Survey (Spring 1999)
• Lab Management Student Survey (Fall 1998)
• Lab Management Faculty Survey (Winter 1998)
• Lab Management Student Survey (Winter 1998)
• Lab Management Student Survey (Winter 1997)
• ASUCD Student Computer Survey (Winter 1997)

Comments: tcleamy@ucdavis.edu URL: http://lm.ucdavis.edu/pubs/survey/duplex_summer00.html Last reviewed: Thu, 18-Jul-2002 Last updated: July 28, 2000