Faculty Website Recommendations

Information for Faculty Producing Websites with Class Notes

In an effort to reduce the amount of paper used for printing in the library and elsewhere on campus, the Valley Library is conducting a campaign to inform students of ways they can reduce the amount of paper they use to print out citations, full-text articles, web pages, class notes, etc. You can assist in this effort by following these web design techniques to reduce student printing from your website:

• When designing web sites with class notes, keep in mind that students will want to print out much of this information. Place information on web pages in a manner that will allow students to print out the most information using the least amount of paper.
• Use a small font size. Browser font size can be easily adjusted by the user for reading.
• Create a "Printable Version" of your PowerPoint slides. PowerPoint is great for overheads with its large fonts and big pictures, but it is very inefficient for printing. If you must use PowerPoint, copy all the text from the PowerPoint slides into one document (use copy and paste commands), change it to a small font size, and place it on the web as a simple HTML page with no borders, buttons or graphics. Have this "Printable Version" linked to the PowerPoint site in a prominent manner.
• Place printing awareness messages on web pages, such as "Print only what you really need" or "Do not print PowerPoint presentations".

Thank you for helping us promote responsible printing habits on campus.