Faxing is Still a Thing
Every once in a while, I bring up the library’s fax machine in general conversation and I always get the same response: “Who even uses fax machines anymore?” The answer to this question is a whole heck of a lot of people. This actually surprised me too when FDL got a really sleek, touch screen fax machine a few years ago. This isn’t that gray desk slab that makes dubstep noises that you’re thinking of.
This is not the library’s fax machine.
Our fax machine is mostly silent and super intuitive to use (although library staff will definitely help you fax documents). It’s basically a scanner bed hooked up to a fax line. So, you can use our fax machine to manipulate your documents or images before sending them. You can also use our machine to scan images and send them to you or someone else’s email for free. Faxing still costs money, but scanning does not.
But to get back to the who and why of fax machines (because they sound so 90s), most offices still have fax machines and some even request faxed documents only. Faxing serves that niche purpose of quick communication for altered documents. What I mean by altered documents are documents that someone is asking you to change by hand before giving back to them – for example signing or providing personal information. If one party is asking another party to sign something but is not in the same geographic location as that party, printing the document, signing it, and then scanning (and sending by email) or faxing it is the quickest way to get that document back to the original party.
FDL staff help people fax documents every day. You might think it’s an outdated mode of communication, but people are still using it, and now you know that if you ever need it yourself, we’ve got your back.
Post by Carey Gibbons, Reference Specialist
About #FDL
Welcome to #FDL! #FDL is a twice weekly update on all things Fondulac District Library and East Peoria. Twice a week, library staff will make posts that highlight some aspect of library life and relate it to you – our readers. Have you ever wanted to know which Dewey number represented a certain topic? Are you looking for book recommendations based on your favorite television show or television recommendations based on your favorite book? Have you ever wondered about the secret details of librarian life? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then #FDL is for you. We look forward to writing posts that are informative and entertaining and hope that you enjoy getting better acquainted with Fondulac District Library.