[Web4lib] Public Library Scanning Setup

[Paul Mills]

Hi All,

The Fountaindale Public Library in Bolingbrook, IL uses the Bookscan Station

http://www.bookscanstation.com/product/features/

and it works very well.  The touchscreen interface is simple and intuitive
for patrons.  Patrons may save their file in Word or PDF or a few other
options and then either save it to a flash drive or email it to themselves.
Email is the far more popular option -- I can't remember the last time I saw
someone insert a flash drive.  We don't charge patrons to scan.  There would
be a charge if they wished to send a job to a printer (which they might want
to do because you can do some basic editing through the touchscreen
interface).  The OCR is pretty darn good too.

We used to have a PC hooked up to a regular scanner, and there was a fair
amount of handholding with that setup.  Our patrons find this setup
self-explanatory, and seem very pleased to be able to do it themselves.

Paul Mills



On Mon, Jan 3, 2011 at 7:31 PM, Leo Robert Klein <leo at leoklein.com> wrote:

> I think this is a good solution.  It might be helpful to have a copy of
> Acrobat Professional so that they can create their own PDFs.
>
> I'd say in general, if you have this service available to the public that
> you should expect a bit of hand-holding.  Scanning isn't an ability that
> people are born with (though increasingly it's something we should all
> learn).
>
> LEO
>
> -- -------------------
> www.leoklein.com (site)
> www.ChicagoLibrarian.com (blog)
>
> aim/msn/yhoo/goog: 'leorobertklein'
> -- -------------------------------
>
>
> "Jesse Ephraim" <jephraim at roanoketexas.com> wrote:
>
> > We have a scanner available to the public.  It's hooked to one of our
> > public use computers.  As with all other services in the library (except
> > for out-of-town cards), we don't charge for the use of it.  Anyone
> > (cardholder or not) is welcome to use it.
> >
> > Patrons have to use their own web-based email account if they want to
> > email the scans.  If not, they can save them to a flash drive.
>
>
>
>
>
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