University Times

University Library System director Rush Miller observes as former U.S. Attorney General and Pennsylvania governor Dick Thornburgh catches the first copy of his updated autobiography in a demonstration of Pitt’s new Espresso Book Machine at Hillman Library. The new print-on-demand system enables printing of paperback books to order.

Pitt has acquired a new print-on-demand machine that will print and bind a paperback book from a PDF file in a matter of minutes.

The Espresso Book Machine (EBM), acquired by the University Library System in collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh Press and the University Book Center, will permit more economical printing of books and journals from the ULS D-Scribe digital collection, University Press titles and other publications including textbooks, to order, one at a time. Although the EBM currently is located at Hillman Library, database compatibility issues and the need for service staff who are in the business of selling books prompted the decision to house the machine at the Book Center, said ULS director Rush Miller.

Plans for moving the EBM are in the works, but in the meantime ULS is filling book orders and training Book Center staff to ensure a smooth transition. According to Book Center director Debra Fyock, the EBM will be located on the bookstore’s main floor, but the exact spot has yet to be determined.

Fyock said the EBM currently is set up to print University Press digital editions; certain journals published by ULS; select books and journals as processed by ULS, and all titles provided by Espressnet, the database of EBM’s manufacturer On Demand Books. That resource includes the Ingram Content Group’s “Lightning Source” database of on-demand titles and Google Books public domain materials (books that no longer have copyright restrictions).

Customers will need to work with Book Center staff to find print-on-demand books, because no comprehensive list is available for public access, Fyock said. However, if a title is chosen from among the databases, a customer would be able to place an order and walk out of the Book Center with the freshly printed book in hand, she said.

“We anticipate that, after covering production and labor costs, our print-on-demand books will be less costly than a comparable book procured through the traditional route,” Fyock said.

According to its manufacturer, EBM book production costs are about a penny per page.

Miller noted that print-to-order saves on upfront publishing costs. For instance, rather than estimating sales and having a number of copies of a book published, the University Press will be able to print new titles as they are ordered, as well as fill individual orders for backlisted or out-of-print books.

The EBM also could offer students a way to save on textbook costs. Printing a textbook to order spares the expense of ordering, stocking and possibly having to return unsold copies from the bookstore, Miller said.

Journal publishers also will save. While most readers access the journals published through Pitt’s D-Scribe system online, a small number of printed copies are needed to accommodate people who lack Internet access. The EBM can produce the journal copies less expensively than a print shop, he noted.

Miller pointed out that many old and rare books in Pitt’s digital holdings also will be available. For instance, an 1806 book by Lewis & Clark expedition member Patrick Gast is viewable online as part of Pitt’s digital Darlington Library collection of materials related to southwestern Pennsylvania history. “But what if you want a copy for your shelf?” he asked. The EBM could print a copy for purchase.

Eventually, millions of titles that have been digitized by other sources could be available for print via the EBM. That step is months to years away, “but it all will happen eventually,” Miller said.

Miller said the print-on-demand machine first came to his attention several years ago when University Press director Cynthia Miller saw an earlier version at a conference. After meeting with representatives of On Demand Books, he passed on an earlier version that he found to be smelly and loud. When a new version was released, his interest was rekindled. “We’d all seen the advantage this would have to us at the University,” Miller said.

Pitt’s EBM was unveiled Sept. 27 at an event highlighted by the printing of an updated paperback version of former U.S. Attorney General and governor of Pennsylvania Dick Thornburgh’s autobiography, “Where the Evidence Leads.”

Once a book is requested, the EBM prints the pages and cover simultaneously, trimming and gluing the book, which then emerges from a chute. A typical book can be produced in less than seven minutes. The machine, not including its printer, sells for $97,500, according to the manufacturer.

Pitt is among approximately three dozen owners of EBM machines in the world. Most are in universities or libraries, but fewer than a dozen U.S. universities have EBMs.

According to On Demand Books, other EBMs are located at the University of Arizona, Brigham Young University, Harvard, North Dakota State University, the University of Michigan, the University of Missouri, the University of North Carolina, the University of Texas, the University of Utah and the University of Washington.

—Kimberly K. Barlow