Helping to Justify Academic Library Budgets Since 2004
When you replace outdated copiers with KIC, you get two far greater values at no extra cost. The relative value of KIC POD for Patrons and KIC Study System is colossal in comparison.
Copier replacement is perhaps 1/10th as valuable as KIC POD for Patrons and less than 1/100th as valuable as KIC Study System (KSS) for your Student Patrons.
In addition, while KIC’s current copier replacement user interface is preferred by most patrons, DLSG will redefine simplicity with an all new copier interface to be released in August of this year (2018).
KIC Study System and KIC POD for Patrons are but 2 out of 10 compelling reasons to replace your copiers with modern digitization technology from DLSG.
Patrons overwhelmingly opt for Digital output. When KIC scanning kiosks are installed in public libraries, about 70% of photocopier users switch to KIC and digital output. The re-maining 30% or so can be served by connecting KIC to a print server or adding a printer to the KIC system. And for patrons that like to use an automatic document feeder (ADF), KIC has a $999 copier replacement option that includes a very nice sheet scanner and support for a local printer and copy card and coin op systems as well as KIC Coins, the free fee collection system that requires no external machinery for collecting fees.
Even without the copier replacement option or local printing, KIC eliminates the need for copiers for 70% of patrons. You would be hard-pressed to find a library with KIC systems whose director doesn’t feel strongly that KIC is a great improvement over photo copiers.
Adding KICs to Library Floors
Increases Digital Output from 1% to 70%, Dramatically
Reducing Wasteful & Expensive Paper Output.
Copier companies can’t afford to serve the needs of library patrons well - copier kiosks for libraries represent a small fraction of 1% of their sales. It’s no surprise that copiers are almost never used by patrons for scanning.
If copier companies are still trying to convince you that their multi-function copiers (MFCs) meet the needs of your patrons, it’s time to stop believing them. Perhaps you can assuage their fears that KIC will take over their administrative services world by telling them that KIC is for the library floor and is not intended to replace copi-ers anywhere else, and introduce them to KIC’s new and very non-copier patron services: KIC Study System and KIC POD for Patrons.
When the first color copiers came out in 1968, they were extremely expensive. To this day, copier companies want to make a lot of money on color. Color output from a common computer printer can be much cheaper.
In the digital world, there is no paper, toner or ink, so libraries rarely
charge for images, whether black and white or color.
Over the years, many libraries experimented with color copiers, but could never find a formula that worked. If the fees were low, patrons would copy materials with so much color that the library would spend more on ink than the fees they were collecting. If the fees were too high, the usage would be so low that the cost of the machine couldn’t be justified.
KIC calculates the amount of color in an image before it is printed. So the fee for copies with a little bit of color can be the same as the fee for black and white copies. If a copy has a lot of color, the fee can be increased in proportion to the cost of the color ink or toner. This wonderful feature should be a simple, easy byproduct of the digital age, and it is with KIC.
Virtually any inkjet, bubble jet or laser printer can be added for printed output right at the KIC system. When KIC systems are added to a library that continues to provide copiers for student and faculty use, paper copy output typically drops by about 70%. Because printed output drops so much, high production printed output devices are seldom neces-sary. Library staff can start with a $300 color printer and if it is heavily used, switch to a larger printer. Experimenting is not expensive. As a result, maintenance costs are lower and students can, at the library’s choosing, enjoy free scanning and low-cost color printing!
KIC printer connectivity is free. KIC supports both network and local printers.
If KIC is connected to a shared network printer, fee collection is performed by the shared printer soft-ware (e.g. Papercut, Pharos, Envisionware).
If KIC is connected directly to a printer, the institution need only purchase a printer, and virtually any common MS-Windows compatible printer will work. Lower cost printers typically have higher cost ink, while higher cost printers have lower cost ink, higher speed and greater durability. The library can ex-periment without spending much. It can choose a small, low cost printer at first, and if usage is too high for the printer, purchase a larger printer with lower ink costs.
Automatic Document Feeders for Looseleaf Papers
Add KIC’s Copier Replacement Option to any KIC configuration and free up those budget funds for digital age hybrid library technologies. With a KIC self-serve book scanning kiosk, most moving parts and all paper handling parts are isolated inside this small, easy to service option. DLSG chose not to manufacture an ADF scanner and chose instead to select the best-of-breed ADF scanner. It’s image quality and paper handling abilities are both very high for such a low-cost device.
If KIC is connected directly to a printer, the institution need only purchase a printer, and virtually any common MS-Windows compatible printer will work. Lower cost printers typically have higher cost ink, while higher cost printers have lower cost ink, higher speed and greater durability. The library can ex-periment without spending much. It can choose a small, low cost printer at first, and if usage is too high for the printer, purchase a larger printer with lower ink costs.
When KIC is directly connected to the printer, fees must be collected by KIC. KIC Coins comes free wtih KIC and sup-ports at least 26 copy card and cash fee collection systems. Some fee collection systems companies have special cables for interfacing their devices with KIC, and these cables can be purchased directly from the companies along with your order for copy card or coin operation devices. Configuring KIC to connect with a particular device is done in moments on an administration screen.
KIC Coin is a digital-age fee collection system included with all KIC systems. KIC Coin does not require that a coin box or a card reader be located next to each copier and fax machine. It works like a debit card, but no card is required. Patrons simply purchase any denomination they designate at the front desk. The library staff member prints a corresponding paper “KIC Coin” with barcode. The patron then places the KIC Coin on the KIC scanner and scans to begin charging the card with every scan thereafter.
Printing copies and faxing have per page costs. These costs are normally passed on to the user. With photocopiers, MFCs and other book scanning kiosks, additional hardware for collecting fees must be acquired. The costs of this addditional hardware must be passed on to the user.
All KIC systems are compatible with all standard copy card and coin-op devices. Since KIC transfers images to users’ computers electronically, costly expendables are avoided, even for color! Libraries normally opt to charge only for printed output. Fortunately, if the library choos-es the right size laser or inkjet printer for the number of printed pages per month, the total cost per printed page (per copy) can still be covered by the fees collected.
Ease-of-use is a central feature of KIC. Its large, 24 inch touch screen with generously proportioned buttons occupying a very large portion of the touch screen are inviting even to the technically timid user.
The user is walked through each process without being overwhelmed because options appear only at the moment they are needed. If a flash drive is inserted, KIC detects this and the output options change to indicate that it will save to the flash drive. More sophisticated users can over-ride defaults by manual selection.
Display screens are our portals into the digital world, and touch screens are the easiest way to control that world. That’s why DLSG provides large, 24 inch, full HD displays and equally large touch screens with most of its KIC systems.
It’s easy to undervalue screen size. For 20 years, all cellphone makers relentlessly pursued smaller and smaller screens until very recently when one company reversed that trend. They finally real-ized that people want the largest screen that will fit in their pocket/purse and hand. This is because display screens are our window to the digital world, and touch screens give us control over that world.
As big as self-serve scanning systems are, it makes sense to have a very large touch screen. And with such low prices these days for high quality displays, it is compelling to add a separate display screen so that the touch screen can be even easier to use. In 2002, DLSG realized this, when the first KIC system was designed. To-day, with nearly 10 years more experience than any other vendor, DLSG has the most understandable, easy to use and powerful user interface for self-serve book scanning, and employs dual screens.
The view screen shows very large, clear images of what has been scanned, allowing the touch screen to have big, easy to understand buttons and other controls.
Dual Screen Touch & View
KIC Bookeye 4 Tabletop Model
Tabletop KIC models have all the capabilities of the floor-standing models. They also have their own tabletop version of the optional SmartDock for wireless transfer of images, and ADF (auto-document feeder) scanner for scanning looseleaf paper, which can be placed anywhere on the table. ADA compliance is achieved by purchasing a table with a 30 inch clearance to the floor and a 31 inch height. KIC tabletop models also offer optional desktop configurations: one with a large touch screen and separate view screen, and the other with a single 24” touch/preview display.
Floor-standing KIC models offer the full KIC self-serve digitization functionality in an elegant, contemporary design with efficient use of space and a compact footprint. KIC 24” touch screen, large preview screen, and scan bed are at the perfect height for wheelchair access.
Users need only locate the volume(s) that they expect to contain the information they are seeking, scan selected sections and output either a searchable PDF file or a text file. These files can easily be searched for a long list of keywords of interest.
Keyword searching is becoming an indispensable capability that significantly improves the quality and efficiency of researching print collections.
KIC is so fast that it can be used to search digitally instead of searching for information manually.
Scan selected excerpts from multiple sources in just minutes.
Output text or searchable PDF directly to a tablet, e-reader, PC, smart phone, Cloud storage, USB, or email.
Search all scanned pages in an instant for various key words and...
...be on your way.
Replacing a Copier/MFC with a KIC can save Hundreds of
Hours of Student & Machine Time Per Year
Statistics from five million scanning sessions across America revealed a median session length of 23 pages. So, most of the time spent during a KIC session is spent scanning. Face up scanning has been proven to be three times faster than face down scanning.
Why is speed important?
Thick books with stiff spines and content that runs deep into the bookfold are often damaged when copied. KIC scanning systems easily capture content without damaging book spines.
KIC automatically removes black edg-es, straightens content, and produces clean, professional looking images.
These automatic image treatment functions also save a lot of user time.
Thick Books?...No Problem
Face-up book scanning is far easier on both patrons and books and quite a bit faster than face-down scanning.
Scanning books face-up makes it much easier to keep track of what pages you’ve scanned. With face-up scan-ners, books stay face up, so you can see what you’re scanning as you scan it. This extra visibility eliminates the age old problem of skipping pages and scanning pag-es out of order which can occur with face-down scanners.
The following photo sequences show the reason that face-down scanning systems are typically 1/3 the speed of face-up systems. The book flipping necessary to scan a book face-down on a commercial copier scanner is shown in the photo sequence below. It’s a workout both for the book and the user.
The ergonomic design of the face-up scanning sytems involves only the basic movement required to set a book down and turn a page.
The sequence above shows just how much work is required to use a face-down scanner to scan multiple pages.
In contrast, the sequence on the left shows the relative speed and ease of face-up scanning systems that do not require the user to flip over the book being scanned. Once placing the book, the user simply turns pages and presses the scan button (or foot pedal) to scan two pages at a time.
