Most genealogists love scanners. They are great for restoring old photographs and for a myriad of other tasks. A newsletter reader this week suggested that I write a review of the various desktop scanners that are on the market. I'd love to write that review, but someone else has already done so.
Once a year PC Magazine does an excellent job of comparing different brands of scanners side-by-side. Those reviews are available free of charge online.
As a one-person operation, there is no way that I match what PC Magazine's team accomplishes, so I let them do the scanner reviews and I focus on other things. (smile)
If you are interested in purchasing a new scanner, I would suggest that you check out the side-by-side comparisons at: http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,1874,7497,00.asp
Dick,
Have you ever done an article on document management software?
Maybe I'm alone here, but I continue to just send scans off to a folder and then rename them afterwards ... with very mixed results. Figuring out the logistics of file name DSC00001.tif coming before DSC00010.tif (without selecting "Rename" instead of "Delete" for DSC00005.tif in between) is cumbersome at best.
I'm imagining this topic will become even more relevant as auto doc feed scanners continue to come down in price. Automatic document feeding seems to be rapidly moving from the high-priced to the standard units in the last 6-12 months.
Keep up the good work.
Posted by: machias | July 22, 2006 at 07:55 AM
An article about document management software will appear here some time within the next month or two. I am looking forward to that as I am "organizationally challenged." I need help with organizing and filing documents. I am looking forward to see if one of these systems will solve my problem. I'll let you know the results.
- Dick Eastman
Posted by: Dick Eastman | July 23, 2006 at 01:31 PM
Moving to a different kind of scanner, have you heard anything from the industry about any new, portable microfilm scanners? I haven't seen anything new since ST Imaging announced their ST100 well over a year ago. And due to its price, I haven't really seen any meaningful reviews anywhere for that.
Posted by: Jason Presley | July 26, 2006 at 02:52 PM
I am not aware of any low-cost scanners that do a good job on microfilm or microfiche. The good ones that I have seen all have prices that place them out of the reach of most private individuals.
Posted by: Dick Eastman | July 26, 2006 at 11:02 PM