Greetings to all,

The microfiche/film machines at the University of West Florida libraries
are currently managed by UWF’s Business Office rather than directly by
the library.  Because the machines do not support themselves
financially, the Business Office continues to ask us to reduce the
number of reader/printers with an ultimate goal of no support at all for
these machines.  After the latest reduction, we have 4 microfilm
reader/printers and 2 microfiche reader/printers.

Because of the Business Office’s focus on profit over service and
because they no longer purchase replacement equipment, we are
considering assuming full responsibility for the machines (including
maintenance contracts) and purchasing new machines in the future.

We are interested to hear about the situation at other institutions
regarding this type of equipment and any difficulties you experience if
your library maintains the equipment itself (cost of maintenance
contracts, cost per copy charged to patrons, philosophy of service vs.
profit, numbers of machines, leasing vs. buying, etc.).  In addition, we
are interested in hearing what types of machines (brand, model numbers,
capabilities such as vertical screen at eye level or horizontally
slanted screen from the table top, etc.) you find most useful,
desirable, and reliable.  We are also considering having some of the
machines connect to a central laser printer rather than printing at each
station.

We would appreciate any insight or advice that you can offer on any of
these issues.  Hope you can help.  Best wishes,

Dare C. MacKellar
Serials Department
UWF Library
dmackell@uwf.edu