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Summary
Without many hardware vendors to chose from, and those remaining not being specialized for libraries, when old label printers die, it can be hard to know what to replace them with. When the drivers for San Jose State’s reliable, 30-year old OKI Data printers were found to be incompatible with the new computers we received in 2021-23, we settled on Zebra thermal transfer printers due to price and availability.
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One final note, these plastic labels do not stick nearly as well as old paper or foil-backed labels. They stick best to other plastics. Consider that the intended application for these materials is supply chain management - think barcodes on plastic bags and addresses on cardboard boxes. To ensure they adhere to books and other library materials, label covers (and sometimes glue) are needed.
Printers Models
Thermal Transfer Only! (not direct thermal)
Desktop Label Printer modes: Zebra ZD421, Zebra ZD621, Zebra GX420t
Labels, Ink and Label covers
Order Resin-only ribbons (research shows resin and thermal transfer ribbons have the longest shelf life i.e. slowest fade time)
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Bayscan Spine/book Label Set - for spine + title label printers
Product # DYNLABTTPBLS = Spine: .9375″ x 1.4375″ ; Title: 2.625″ x 1.4375″ ; 2.6 mil White Gloss ; thermal transfer labels
Bayscan 2 x .75" Polyester Barcode Labels - for barcode duplicators
Product # LAB2x.75POLY = .75” x 2” ; polyester thermal transfer labels
Collected and quoted advice from Listservs:
A. "Direct thermal" and "thermal transfer" are two different things. Direct thermal uses heat to darken a chemical impregnated in the label surface and these do indeed fade rather quickly, especially if exposed to light or combined with certain label protectors. Thermal transfer uses heat to fuse a pigment onto the label somewhat in the manner of a laser printer, and is much more durable.
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