ProPrint world‐wide print‐on‐demand services for study and research
| Published date | 01 June 2004 |
| Pages | 227-230 |
| Date | 01 June 2004 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07378830410543548 |
| Author | Elmar Mittler,Matthias Schulz |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
ProPrint world-wide
print-on-demand
services for study and
research
Elmar Mittler and
Matthias Schulz
The authors
Elmar Mittler is Director,Go
¨ttingen State and University Library,
Go
¨ttingen, Germany.
Matthias Schulz is an Informatics Specialist, Computer and
Media Services, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany.
Keywords
Libraries, Digital libraries, Print media, Demand, Germany
Abstract
The libraries of more and more universities and research
institutions have local digital repositories, and the amount of
material is increasing every day. Users need an integrated
retrieval interface that allows aggregated searching across
multiple document servers without having to resort to manual
processes. ProPrint offers an on-demand print service within
Germany for over 2,000 monographs and 1,000 journals.
Partners worldwide are now invited to join.
Electronic access
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is
available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is
available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htm
Introduction
ProPrint currently offers an on-demand print
service within Germany for over 2,000
monographs and 1,000 journals[1]. It does this by
enabling virtual connections between document
servers so that information within the metadata of
all servers can be searched with a single search
interface. This service provides users with
unlimited access to distributed electronic
documents via the central ProPrint search engine
and sets up an efficient print-on-demand workflow
for those libraries that publish electronic
information.
The idea
The libraries of more and more universities and
research institutions have local digital repositories,
and the amount of material is increasing every day.
Users need an integrated retrieval interface that
allows aggregated searching across multiple
document servers without having to resort to
manual processes. To do this, networking the
document servers using standards like the Open
Archive Initiative (OAI) metadata harvesting
protocol is a prerequisite.
These document servers are not expected to
replace printed information. Experience shows
that the increased availability of digital information
enhances the desire to print. Most people resort to
the convenience of desktop printing, but there is
also an ongoing demand to have loose pages bound
in a book-like format, especially if the material is
for long-term use. Such a book may be also
unique, for example a compilation of texts on a
particular subject taken from multiple sources.
ProPrint is a software solution for this kind of
print on demand using OAI-standards and (at least
for the next few years) PDF as output format.
Part of the idea behind the use of PDF as a
quasi-standardized print format is to enable its use
worldwide. Data hosted by one or more remote
servers can (in principle) be printed anywhere in
the world that has the necessary technical facilities.
Instead of shipping a print-on-demand work, users
can fetch it locally, whether in Hong Kong, New
York or New Delhi.
ProPrint is currently far from realizing this
dream, but the Computing and Media Services of
Humboldt University in Berlin and the Go¨ttingen
State and University Library have taken the first
steps into this direction though a grant by the
Library Hi Tech
Volume 22 · Number 2 · 2004 · pp.227-230
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited · ISSN 0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/07378830410543548
Received 9 February 2004
Revised 17 March 2004
Accepted 19 March 2004
227
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