* Hand-held Scanners

[g_mcallister]

Has anyone any experience of using small hand-held scanners such as those from IrisPen or Planon to capture information from books and documents in libraries and record centres? They look like they might be useful as an alternative to transcribing where you come across the odd reference or a paragraph or two where doing whole page copying is not justified or possible.
Also what would be the likely attitude of librarians and custodians to their use?

ID:790

[Guest]

I’ve just purchased an IrisPen Express a few days ago. After a quick installation and short learning curve I started updated my genealogy database from reference material from a book I own. I’m probably placing the most tedious use possible on the device with pleasurable results.

I use Legacy Family Tree 5.0 as my genealogy database and the book has the equivalent of about 8 point New Time Roman font. I have programmed the auxiliary buttons on the scanning pen for tab and back space entries when the buttons are pressed. I use the scanning pen to copy names, dates and locations to the various fields of the genealogy database. The programmable buttons allow me to move between fields in the database and make minor corrections without entry from the keyboard, allowing me to do most of the controls from the pen. This seems much faster than having to lay the pen down to control the cursor.

The tricky part is the book I have been using mostly, has standard abbreviation such as “b.2 Jun 1802 d.abt. Aug 1867”. It is somewhat difficult to start the scan without picking up the b. or the d. in front of the date. I know most of you wouldn’t bother with trying to use the device for date entry. However, I have a slight case of dyslexia which has causes me grief when trying to enter dates accurately. I find that the device is most accurate when using it to enter full lines of text, such as notes. It is surprising how quickly and accurately it can capture text from a book and place it in the database. I’m also not the fastest typist and it reduces my entry if reference material significantly.

I recently purchased the IrisPen Express from Amazon.com for $116 US with a $30 rebate. Even though I look at genealogy as a hobby I believe I’ll find this device invaluable.  http://mysite.verizon.net/res1nx2p/

[johnphillips]

Use a small digital camera instead. I use a 2 megapixel camera which gives more resolution than is actualy needed simply to record data. 1 megapixel would probably be enough and could be bought now - I think- for about £50.00 or even less. Turn off the flash to as not to distract other library (or whatever) users and also to avoid drawing attention to yourself should you be worried that you might  be infriging copyright

[g_mcallister]

Thanks for the replies. Using a small digital camera is a good idea but I was seduced by the technology and purchased a Planon R700 scanning pen for about £95 when in New York last month. It is slightly longer and thicker than a normal pen and easily slips into your pocket. You lay it flat on the page and run it down the page in about 4-8 seconds. See http://www.docupen.com
It takes a bit of practice to get an even scan. I used it for real for the first time this week and I was able very quickly to capture several bits of pages from local history books about families or properties of interest. It really proved its usefulness when I visited a small church in Kent that was of ancestral interest. I found transcripts of the parish registers in a folder at the back of the church. Using the pen I was able to come away with copies of the period of interest.