[Web4lib] Scanner Recommendations?

[Kent Gerber]

Alison,

In the Digitization world, one of the scanners that is a flexible workhorse is the Epson Expression 10000XL and fits all your criteria except for price.  It is well beyond $2,000 but is a dependable and powerful piece of equipment that is used by many institutions that have your needs and have high volume. The Minnesota Historical Society and the University of Minnesota use this model as well as many other institutions.

The Graphic Arts Model is the least expensive at $2,500 (http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&infoType=Accessories&oid=47915743&category=Products) but you must add 1,300.00 for the Automatic Document Feeder (http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/ProductQuickSpec.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=11237&category= ). It has all the additional software already included. The added feature of being able to scan transparencies is what you pay for in the more expensive model, the Photo Scanner.

This already puts you close to 4,000 but it may be worth it if these features are really what you need. Also, these prices are retail and depending on your resources you may find better deals with your purchasing department.

This may be too much but I figured you could use this as a standard to compare others with.

Kent

Kent Gerber, MSLIS
Digital Library Manager
Bethel University
St. Paul, MN
phone: 651.638.6937
email: kent-gerber at bethel.edu