Over the course of the last two years I have acquired three different scanners, all with different purposes. For both personal and professional reasons, I decided that I needed all three.
I have a Canon flat bed scanner. This is an older scanner, identical to the one that I used when I worked for the DOD. It’s great for historic documents, especially odd sized ones from World War II. I use it for anything that is fragile or could not be scanned through the feeder scanner. The computer application I use is basic, like the scanner, but it is works for certain things. However, it is not good for books or things that are thick because of the way that the top flattens to the glass.
I have an HP feed scanner. This is great for copies of records or records that are newer and can be scanned. Receipts and personal tax records for instance are prefect for this type of scanner. When working on my book, “Men Beyond the Stones” I used this scanner to digitize all the files that I received from the National Personnel Records Facility (NPRC). That way I could put the paper records away while still using the information I needed from the scans.
Realizing that I had documents that I couldn’t scan using either my flatbed or feed scanner, and moving forward with my digitization business, I decided I needed something more robust. Also, I wanted to use some of the records that the local museum had in their archival collections. That meant that I couldn’t check the documents out, but I didn’t want to write at the library. I decided to purchase a larger scanner that has the capacity to scan books and larger items.
As a collector of military books as well as antique books, I immediately wanted to test this scanner’s capabilities. I have a submarine book that I have been looking at for a while, trying to figure out the best way to preserve it while also using it as a reference. I decided this was the perfect place to test the scanner. Something odd shaped, old, and somewhat brittle to preserve.
I set it up in the living room on the coffee table so I could watch tv with my daughter and scan. It worked perfectly, and I now have a full scanned copy of this book on my hard drive, waiting for me to use. As I am using this for my personal use, while still maintaining ownership of the original, I am not violating copyright law.
Not all scanning has to be important, or even immediately useful. For example, I have used my feed scanner and my Canon scanner to scan recipes. Were they old? No. Were they important? Not specifically. But was it convenient for me? Absolutely.
Over the course of two years I acquired many food magazines, from my mother, my aunt, and personal subscriptions. I decided that I didn’t want the magazines just cluttering up my house and so I went through them and tore out all the recipes that I am interested in, or that my family would eat.
After I took them out of the magazine, I had a stack of papers. Scanned, saved, and put on my computer for future use. Just like that!
If you are interested in having documents, images, or recipes scanned, please reach out to us via our contact page to see how we can best assist you.
Until next time, happy scanning!
Schellinger Research 