State-of-the-art scanner brings library into 21st century

This archived article was written by: Madsion Woodward

The Utah State University Eastern’s library added a new high-tech member to its family: the Knowledge Imaging Center or the KIC Click Scanner. Having had just two old copy machines that printed low resolution black and white copies for over a decade, and a small computer image scanner, the KIC Click thrusts this campus’s library into the future of advanced educational resources.
So what is the KIC Click? It is a high resolution walk up scanner; but it is not just an ordinary scanner, with all the splendor of the 21st century the KIC Click’s highly technological design has many benefits. When a typical copier can only copy pages that are 11” X 17” in low resolution black and white, the KIC Click scans books as large as 16” X 22” (that is as big as a large Atlas) in high resolution color, which is a major advantage for a college student. Its other benefits include a 23-inch easy-to-use touch screen, it can scan 10 pages at 300 DPI in under 30 seconds, there is a decrease to the damage to a book’s spine with its face up scanning and the ability to create a searchable PDF, JPEG, TIFF, PNG and even audible files of the text in your scan. To receive the images you have just scanned, there are multiple easy-to-use methods including: emailing the scans to yourself or others, file servers, the Web, the library’s color laser printer and a wireless connection to save your scan to your personal electronic device.
On Jan. 7, the library staff held an open house to introduce this new high-tech scanner. Students, faculty and community members were invited to try this new device and see for themselves the rewards of using the KIC Click. It was welcomed by everyone with anticipation and eagerness. USU Eastern’s Library Director, Lori Brassaw, commented on the effect this new resource will give to the campus: “Not only are we moving the library into the 21st century with the advanced technology, we also see it has a way to reduce paper use. Other academic libraries across the nation have seen more than a 50 percent reduction in paper use since offering scanning services compared to only photocopiers.” The KIC Click with all its other benefits is also helping the campus go green with its methods of saving paper and ink, and also it saves time and money for the average college student.
Brassaw continually expressed her delight at the libraries new KIC Click, “We are thrilled to offer the new KIC Click Scanning system to our campus and want to express our thanks to Chancellor [Joe] Peterson for providing one-time funds for the scanner. This is a great resource for the campus and community.” It is to be certain that the USU Eastern campus will see the positive results from the new KIC Click Scanner immediately and its effect will last greatly into the future.