As often happens, today's post evolved from a conversation with Drew, my blog partner. He was telling me about a friend asking for his opinion on the purchase of a wand scanner. The friend wanted one that s/he could easily carry and use to scan documents occasionally for her/his genealogical research. Drew did due diligence and found a scanner for under $100.
As we discussed this, we both realized that we had similar needs in the past, but had satisfied that need in a different way. We used a digital camera or the camera in our phone to capture the document. This may be old news to all of you, but I wanted to pass it on just in case.
I believe the first time I used my phone camera to record text was in my doctor's office. I was "scanning" through a magazine, Good Housekeeping or something like it, and, as always happens, came upon a recipe that sounded interesting. In the past, I had been one of those awful people who guiltily and surreptitiously rip the page(s) out of the magazine, leaving it to frustrate the next reader. This time, I realized that I could take a picture of the recipe with the camera in my phone and have a clean conscience about the condition in which I left the magazine.
Since then, I've used my camera for many similar purposes. My new favorite is at ALA and other professional conferences. I like to travel light through the conference center and hate to carry lots of brochures. My solution? Take pictures of the documents that interest me. Now, as I roam through the exhibit hall, my ALA bag isn't bogged down with lots of paper and has plenty of room for all of the tchotchkes and swag that the vendors give away!
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