HEADLINES
Printing, Center for the Book collaborate on new student learning opportunity
View photos
The UI Printing Department recently became an educational resource for The University of Iowa Center for the Book students. The focus is a Linotype typesetting machine that had been resting unused under a tarp in a dark corner of the printing facility. In early December, Gary Frost, head conservator at the UI Libraries and instructor in the Center for the Book, organized a tutorial on the technically outmoded machine. Taught by Denmark, Iowa, Linotype enthusiast Larry Raid, the tutorial has sparked a good deal of interest among students and faculty associated with the Center for the Book.
The Linotype was developed in the late 19th century primarily for newspapers, and typesets and casts lines of type, or slugs, for letterpress printing. For centuries, each character had to be typeset by hand for newspapers, magazines, books, and any other printed material. Ottmar Mergenthaler mechanized and condensed the process by inventing the Linotype - and catapulted newspaper and magazine production into the 20th century. The machine, while an amazing feat of technology, is anything but simple or compact, which may help to explain why most were abandoned when newer technologies were developed.
In fact, the machine at the Mossman Building was slated to be discarded until Frost met with Gary Anderson, Printing Department manager, and Stan Reuter, production supervisor, early last year to discuss a possible collaboration. After an experimental tutorial, they decided that preserving the Linotype machine was in everyone's interest. The Printing Department gave the Center for the Book access to its Linotype equipment, creating a unique opportunity for students and faculty. As Linotypes fade into history, the two departments are playing an important role in saving the machine, said to be the most important leap for printing since the invention of moveable type 400 years earlier.
Not only is the collaboration preserving the Linotype, it also is passing along the knowledge needed to operate it. During the December tutorial, more than ten students and five faculty members crowded around the machine to learn how to operate it. The juxtaposition of new and old technologies at Mossman was striking. As students struggled to eke out a single line of type, machines printing hundreds of pages per minute whirred nearby.
So, why are Center for the Book students interested in the machine, which weighs around a ton and casts the slugs from a pot of molten printers' metal that is attached to one side? Many of them are also involved with hand typesetting, printing, and binding in their studies, and the preservation aspect of the Linotype has attracted their attention. In addition to preservation, the Center for the Book strives to encourage innovation in the book arts, and this opportunity does just that.
One student project already under way involves using the Linotype. A group of students who attended the two-day tutorial in December are producing a series of book-making kits in which loose pages are printed with words and phrases from slugs cast with the Linotype. Individuals who purchase a kit will be able to arrange the pages however they choose and bind them, creating their own book of poems, phrases, or stories.
Other projects, some of which may embrace and explore the aesthetics of early 20th century newspapers and industrial America, are in the works and will likely provide interesting, new results. Almost entirely ignored at most book studies programs, the Printing Department and the Center for the Book have created an opportunity that will fill an important gap in printing history and provide a tool for innovation.
Nicole Flores
Nicole Flores is a graduate student in The University of Iowa English Department and Center for the Book. She is coordinating students' use of the Linotype at the Printing Department.
For more information about The University of Iowa Center for the Book and Larry Raid's Linotype University, visit their websites, www.uiowa.edu/~ctrbook and www.linotypeuniversity.com.
Historical printing studio taking shape at MBSB
View photos
A historical printing studio has begun to emerge from the collaboration between the UI Center for the Book (UICB) and the Printing Department. The following news release, distributed by Gary Frost, who initiated the collaboration, explains:
"It looked like the end of the line for the Linotype. But the UICB and the Printing Department are collaborating to bring this wonderful technology back to relevance, both academic and practical. The Linotype and other working examples of printing technologies are now available to book studies students at the 510-square-foot printing studio at the Mossman building.
The printing studio is not a museum, but a laboratory for experiencing the technologies of print production, primarily the Linotype and a Reliance iron press. The studio provides a new teaching resource for the University and for specialists in book studies, with the ambience and accessories of the shop and factory environment that stood behind the familiar newspapers, books, and serials of past centuries.
The innovative collaboration of the UICB and the Printing Department that created this resource promises further results, especially in the demonstration of newer technologies alongside the legacy technologies of print production."
President Skorton has declared the 2004-2005 academic year as the Year of the Arts and Humanities. In doing so, he also said that innovative thinkers would be encouraged to take new steps in their respective disciplines, adding that "the arts and humanities are not merely academic, but even more importantly social and cultural forces." The planning group, he said, "is engaging our campus community in conversations about how best to involve faculty, staff, students, and citizens in a life of discovery through the arts and humanities."
The historical printing studio draws these elements together in a single endeavor, and printing technology, which drove monumental social and cultural change over the past five-hundred years, looks like a good fit.
"This project is taking on a life of its own," says Frost. "We have very enthusiastic faculty interest, from both [letterpress instructor] Sara Sauers and Matt Brown [assistant professor, Department of English]. Students have shown excellent interest in the historical printing experience."
The Center for the Book operates as a consortium of faculty and staff in Art, English, History, Journalism, Library Science, and Religion. Now it includes the Printing Department as well.
Consolidation continues, Campus Mail projects $20,000 annual savings
The Business Services departments are working hard to save money in the face of the University's budget cuts. Consolidating services and processes, a cost-saving measure which began more than eight years ago, continues.
Most recently, Campus Mail made route changes that should save 25,000 miles and $20,000 a year, without slowing delivery. The reorganization eliminated duplication, saving time and making the routes more efficient. Supervisor Bill Burch says he "worked with the drivers to determine the most logical and safest sequence of deliveries, using the fewest possible number of left turns."
All the departments at MBSB have begun combining deliveries, particularly on campus. Central Mail helps Printing and General Stores by delivering small parcels, some Corporate Express deliveries, and Wide Media plan sets; Mail uses Stores for large deliveries to the Post Office. Consolidation - and savings - will be ongoing.
[Top of page]
CENTRAL MAIL SERVICES
Mail metering charges on Web
Central Mail customers may again check their monthly metering charges on the Web. Go to www.uiowa.edu/~fuscmail/cost/costs.htm and follow either the "Bulk mail" or "Mail metering" link. Enter your department's nine-digit mailing code number (twenty-nine digit mail code for UNI) and the dates for which you wish information. The data base will contain charges made beginning March 1, 2004. The service was unavailable during a software upgrade. Central Mail thanks you for your patience.
Move Update means Postal Service to require address cleansing for discounted rates
The U.S. Postal Service will soon require that address files be processed (cleansed) before use by an approved software if the addresses will be used on a mailing for which a presorted or automation discount would apply. Mailers who fail to do this will pay first-class rates for bulk mail.
For example, if you submit a bulk mailing that your department has addressed and put into ZIP-code order without first having the address list checked, you may not be eligible for a presort or automation discount. If you maintain your own address database, Central Mail Services can process your address files according to this Postal Service initiative, called Move Update. Other alternatives are available but may be costly and time consuming.
Bulk mail
Bulk mailings, whether self mailers, flats, or letters, come to Central Mail either prelabeled or needing to be addressed. Prelabeled bulk mailings arrive with the addresses already in place.
Prelabeled letters and self mailers will go to Postal Services, Inc. (PSI), the University's contracted presort vendor. PSI will process them according to Move Update and give discount rates.
Prelabled flats and booklets will necessarily be mailed at first-class rates. Do not prelabel this kind of mail if you want it to qualify for bulk rates. Instead, send your address files to Central Mail for processing and addressing. If the mail pieces are flat envelopes, we can address them and return them to your department for inserting if this is more economical.
Mail pieces that need to be addressed and their address files are sent by departments to Central Mail via the Web, an e-mail attachment, or on a disk. Central Mail processes the files and sprays the addresses on the mail pieces. These mailings are in compliance with Move Update.
First-class mail
There will be no change in requirements for first-class mail: single-piece, full-postage, first-class letters and flats, as well as discounted letter-size mail that is in full compliance with USPS automation standards and is processed by PSI. Payroll, accounting services, athletics, cashier's office, and accounts receivable mailings are examples of automation compliant mail.
Other mail
Priority mail, media mail, and parcel post are not affected by Move Update and will have no change in their processing requirements. Call Central Mail manager Chris Kula, 384-3809, with questions.
Move Update frequently asked questions
Our department labels and sorts mailings in ZIP-code order. Do we still qualify?
Prelabeled letters and self mailers will be processed by PSI and receive discount rates. Prelabeled flats and booklets will receive no discount.
Can our department have Central Mail Service address our envelopes and we insert the material to save on processing fees?
Yes. Central Mail will process your addresses before applying them. It offers inserting as an optional service.
What is the cost difference if we don't comply?
Using addresses that have not been processed correctly will cost your department the same as single-piece, first-class mail: from 37 cents for a one-ounce mail piece to $1.06 for a four-ounce mail piece. A 1,000-piece mailing weighing one ounce per piece would cost $370 at first-class rates, $165 at nonprofit bulk rates (plus .03 cents per address for Central Mail to process).
What does our department need to do to comply with the USPS regulations?
Format your addresses according to Postal Service guidelines and make sure your address files are cleansed (processed) before every bulk mailing. Central Mail offers staff development classes and departmental consultations to teach proper address formatting. The next class will be held Tuesday, May 4, 2004, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Register at the Staff Development website.
When does this go into effect?
The Postal Service has not set a date, but it could happen by late summer or early fall 2004.
Will we be notified once the USPS makes these changes permanent?
Yes. Central Mail will notify its customers when it receives information.
Central Mail can help you meet Move Update requirements
We can...
· check your address list with an approved software,
· spray the addresses on the mail pieces,
· insert material and seal envelopes,
· add tabs to self-mailers,
· and deliver your mailing to the Post Office.
Our fees are posted at www.uiowa.edu/~fuscmail/cost/msvcfees.htm.
FedEx pick-up is between 3 and 4 pm daily.
Please have outgoing packages in the mail room before 3 pm.
Tax time keeps Central Mail staff busy
Central Mail processed more than 100,000 tax statements in January (W2, 1098, and 1098Ts) for The University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa. This was in addition to the usual payroll, telecommunications, dentistry billing, accounts receivable, and student billing processed each month for the schools.
[Top of page]
STORES AND RENTAL SERVICES
Introduction to General Stores and Online Ordering
staff development class
10 a.m. on Thursday, April 29, 2004
Everything you wanted to know about General Stores and its on-line ordering system: what General Stores is, what it does, and how it operates; what is stocked and what is not; how we work with our contracted vendor, Corporate Express, to provide office supplies at great prices; how to place orders using the MIGS and SIGS on-line systems, how to check on orders, and delivery schedules; who to call with questions and what's next at General Stores. Register at http://www.uiowa.edu/~fusstfdv.
Character counts
Meet Joel Tresslar
Warehouse and delivery supervisor Joel Tresslar sums up his job at General Stores in one brief statement: "I make sure the product is going out the door," he says. "It's pretty basic. We put the stuff away and then we pick it."
First he sees that the orders (mostly paper products and custodial supplies) are picked on a daily basis, picking errors are kept to a minimum, that the warehouse is in order, and that the inventory is accurate. Then he makes sure the delivery trucks roll.
Joel's staff includes one person to pick, receive, and shelve incoming stock, one to pick and deliver all housekeeping orders, four full-time drivers for the regular delivery routes, and five to six student employees whose work varies. The drivers average about four skids of Stores' stock and about 250 Corporate Express items in their daily deliveries. They also help Central Mail with deliveries to the Post Office.
"We rely on the students to do a lot of the larger items, where it takes more than one person to handle it," says Joel. This could be furniture, computers, or anything else a department might order and receive through Central Receiving, such as a recent shipment of Gatorade for the football department. The students also fill in for full-time employees as needed.
Originally from Sigourney, Iowa, Joel lives in North Liberty with his wife, Jill, and their daughters, Jaylinn and Jessica. He used to perform in rodeos as a saddle bronc rider. He learned the sport - competitive riding on a saddled, unbroken horse - from his father. "He was very good at it. I never got as good as him, but I had fun with it," says Joel, who left "after my last broken leg. I thought it would be wise to hang up the saddle." He still rides, though only on broken horses, and judges a small, summer rodeo in North Liberty.
Before coming to Stores, Joel had worked in hospital material services, a retail warehouse, construction, and a company that built airplane ground support equipment. He says he has found the challenges are essentially the same wherever he goes; what's different are the processes used to deal with them.
General Stores serves every department in some capacity, and Joel says he likes working with his customers across campus, solving problems and answering questions about orders and deliveries. "Getting stuff out the door and keeping the customer happy, there's a sense of accomplishment," he says.
[Top of page]
PARKING & TRANSPORTATION
Finkbine lot now accessible from Melrose Ave.
Finkbine commuter permit holders have a new way to get to their parking lot, which could save many of them valuable travel time. The Parking and Transportation Department has constructed a road alongside the golf course to allow permit holders access to the lot from Melrose Avenue.
The new road allows commuters to bypass the heavy traffic areas of University Heights and the Coralville strip. Some from Cedar Rapids say they won't go through Coralville any more to get to the parking lot. They will now take the Melrose exit from Highway 218 and use the Finkbine access road. This will save time because they will not get caught in the Coralville strip traffic.
The road will also be very useful in the event a train blocks the access road off Hawkins Drive. Permit holders will have another way into or out of the lot in that situation.
The road is not a through street and only allows access to and from the Finkbine lot. In order to control vehicle use of the road, a gate system was installed at the Finkbine lot entrance and only cardholders will be allowed access.
Michelle Ribble
Access cards replace keys at Ramp 3
In January, a new card access system was installed in Hospital Ramp 3 (the "clock ramp") for Lot 80 permit holders. The cards activate the parking gates for entry and exit.
In order to use the cards, a permit holder places the card within an inch or two of the card reader, which reads the card. If the card is valid to enter or exit, the parking gate is raised. The card system should be an overall faster process than the keys, which required the permit holder to insert a key into a key station before entering or exiting.
Michelle Ribble
P&T, hospital work to improve outpatient parking validation
"Do you validate parking?" This is a frequently asked question of the Parking and Transportation department. We're happy to say the University of Iowa Health Care collaborated with Parking and Transportation to provide free parking for its patients receiving ambulatory outpatient services.
The Ambulatory Patient Complimentary Parking Program was started a few years ago but was recently improved with the use of validation stickers. Previously, outpatients were given a complimentary parking pass that was printed on an 8.5x11-inch piece of paper. The size of the paper alone was a problem, but there were also auditing issues and abuse of the free parking program by employees. So the UIHC and P&T worked together to find a solution that improved the process for patients and staff while still being able to meet auditing requirements.
The new stickers were put into use in November. Patients now bring their parking transaction ticket with them to their clinic appointments. Hospital staff validates their ticket by placing a validation sticker on it. The patient then presents their validated ticket to the ramp cashier in order to exit free of charge.
The cost of the parking is then paid by the UIHC. In fiscal year 2003 the cost of parking for the program was approximately $880,000. Switching to the new stickers has gone fairly smoothly and has been well received by the outpatients.
Michelle Ribble
[Top of page]
PRINTING DEPARTMENT
Printing Department works to support new Adobe Creative Suite collection
Adobe Systems released its professional graphic design software collection, Creative Suite (CS), this winter. It combines Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat, and others. Adobe also announced that there will be no further PageMaker development.
While designers have begun using InDesign CS, support services are scrambling to keep up. In some cases the production equipment is not fully compatible with the new software, so service bureaus are devising special measures to keep the work moving. "We are working on support on a case-by-case basis," says Printing Department computer consultant Mike Cash. "We are presently working on solutions to the issues that arise, and, in so doing, may need to take a little extra time on jobs."
A short-range solution for customers who are moving toward InDesign is to use version 2, which the Printing Department fully supports. Adobe will permit UI users to install this earlier version through the site license. Contact Cash, 384-3724, for details.
Stay current with software upgrades for best results
The Printing Department supports software programs that are considered standard for the printing industry and used by the majority of its customers. This includes the current version of a program and its immediate predecessor. Contact our computer consultant, 384-3724, for details about using the Adobe Creative Suite collection and for other questions about software. Contact our prepress supervisor, 384-3718, for information about setting up files that you plan to send us. This will help you avoid output problems that could cost time and money.
Printing Department software support
Imaging Initiative - the less paper option
By converting paper records into convenient digital format, the Printing Department has helped University clients empty file drawers and storage boxes - freeing up space and making documents more accessible.
Customized scanning projects are crafted to suit customer needs. The scanning area, staffed primarily by student employees, processes documents based on the requirements established in concert with the users.
One long-standing scanning client, HR Employment, recently benefited from an upgrade of website options that further enhanced their processes. Another client, wishing to be rid of boxes of rarely accessed material, opted for minimal indexing of documents that are now stored for them on CDs.
Whatever the method of delivery, the Printing Department strives to meet customer needs in an ever-evolving environment.
Sandie Herwig
Library printing update
Document Services has nearly completed the refinements in its new system for printing from the library workstations. The system requires users to specify the volume of printing they want and allows them to charge the printing to their Hawk ID or pay cash. The cost is the same as at the ITCs, five cents per page for black-and-white and fifty cents for color.
Staff change at UPACS and copyright office
Ken Knopik, formerly at Hardin Library Document Center, has moved to Document Services's UPACS and copyright clearance services. The services are available to faculty members producing course packs for the classes they teach. Contact Knopik, 335-3410, upacs-printing@uiowa.edu, or Document Services manager Marge Kline, 384-3717, with questions.
[Top of page]
WE LIKE FEEDBACK!
Story ideas:
Are there topics we haven't covered that you would like to see in our newsletter?
Do you have questions you would like us to address? Send an e-mail to
jenean-arnold@uiowa.edu or a memo to Into Print,126C MBSB.
Address corrections and additions:
If you wish to be added to the Into Print mailing list, fill out and send our
form or e-mail the following
information [University of Iowa campus addresses and @uiowa.edu e-mail suffixes only]
to jenean-arnold@uiowa.edu:
- Your name
- Department
- Campus Mail address
- whether you want the print version, e-mail notification of Web posting, or both.
E-mail us:
Send questions and comments about departmental topics to:
Bionic Bus . . . bionic-bus@uiowa.edu
Cambus information . . . cambus-dispatching@uiowa.edu
Central Mail . . . central-mail@uiowa.edu
Commuter programs . . . commuter-programs@uiowa.edu
General Stores . . . genstores@uiowa.edu
Motor Pool . . . motor-pool@uiowa.edu
Parking facilities operations . . . facilities-dispatch@uiowa.edu
Parking services . . . parking-office@uiowa.edu
Wide Media Center . . . widemedia-printing@uiowa.edu
Copy Centers:
Boyd Law . . . dcblb-printing@uiowa.edu
Hardin Library . . . dchlhs-printing@uiowa.edu
Iowa Memorial Union . . . dcimu-printing@uiowa.edu
Med Labs . . . dcml-printing@uiowa.edu
Mossman Building . . . dcmbsb-printing@uiowa.edu
Pappajohn Bldg . . . dcpbb-printing@uiowa.edu
UPACS and Copyright Service . . . upacs-printing@uiowa.edu
We are . . .
Business Services: Central Mail Services, Equipment Rental, General
Stores, Laundry Service, Maintenance Stores, Parking and Transportation, Printing
Department, and Surplus, serving The University of Iowa. The print version of
Into Print is distributed free and on request to UI faculty, staff,
and students.
Contributors to this issue:
Gary Anderson/Business Services, Printing;
Sandie Herwig/Printing;
Chris Kula/Central Mail;
Michelle Ribble/Parking & Transportation;
Judy Rockafellow/General Stores.
Kristin Baum, Jessica DeSpain, Nicole Flores,
Gary Frost/University of Iowa Center for the Book.
Editor/web administrator: Jenean Arnold, phone 384-3723,
jenean-arnold@uiowa.edu, 126C MBSB.
|
