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Archiver > GENBRIT > 2001-11 > 1004666951


From: Forrest Anderson <>
Subject: Re: Hand Scanners
Date: Fri, 02 Nov 2001 02:09:11 +0000
References: <3BE079C7.59FF9D9@lightage.demon.co.uk>


On Wed, 31 Oct 2001 22:23:03 +0000, in soc.genealogy.britain, d wilcox
<> wrote:

>Can someone please wise me up on the value, usage and portability of
>these little items?

I got the Siemens hand scanner in a present, but after trying it out I
returned it to Maplins, where it had been bought.

Here are some problems I ran across in the few days that I had it:

1. I had difficulty keeping the thing straight. You get a "ruler"
with it, and you should run it along the ruler so that you don't roll
onto the line above or below.

2.I found it difficult to work out what text it was scanning,
although a bit of practice works here.

3.The correct speed is important - if you run it along the text too
slow or too fast you'll get errors

4.When I finally got it lined up, and operating at the correct
speed, it wasn't that accurate, and I ran into the same problems as
you get with normal OCR programs that come bundled with scanners - the
letter l and the figure 1 are very confusable, as are zeros and the
letter O, and so on. If you are working with "words" made up of mixed
letters and numbers you will want to be careful - postcodes like PE20
5AD might well be read as PESO SAD (no, the postcode doesn't exist -
call it poetic licence!)

5.If your text is closely-spaced, then you may well end up scanning
the line you want, plus the bottom half of the line above, and the top
half of the line below. Naturally it doesn't like that!

6.If you use it left-handed, the LCD display, which shows up the
most recently-scanned words, is facing away from you.

The same friend bought the Quicklink pen for herself for 99 GBP, as
opposed to the 50 GBP Siemens one that I tried, and also returned it.
She did that because it wouldn't recognise the text properly, and also
because of other irritations over the length of time the scanner took
to scroll from one end of the file to the other, the unusual PC
software that came with it, and the complete inability to recognise
webpage references (URLs).

The above is written from my own limited personal experience, and
other people may love their pen scanner to bits. Practice will
increase your chances of success, but like voice recognition software,
don't expect a quick fix.

As well as the obvious question "does it work", one also must ask
"will I be allowed to use it?". The National Library of Scotland, here
in Edinburgh, does not allow them, and
http://www.nls.uk/info/readingrooms/general/computers.html says "The
use of printers, scanners, or other ancillary equipment is not
permitted."

Neither does the British Library allow their use - see
http://www.bl.uk/information/conditions.html which says "Readers may
not use cameras, personal copying machines, personal scanners or any
other personal equipment for making copies".

When I was down at the PRO a couple of days ago, I noticed a magazine
review of one of these pen scanners on a desk, and a note telling
staff that this type of device was not allowed to be used by readers.
It falls into the "portable copying devices" or cameras category which
are so often banned at archives. The PRO's list of prohibited items
can be found at http://www.pro.gov.uk/about/access/planning.htm

If you are thinking of getting one, I suggest that:

a.You make sure that you will be allowed to use it at the places you
visit

b.You ensure that you can take it back to the shop, if you find that
it is not suitable for some reason or another.

Forrest


--
Forrest Anderson
Edinburgh
Scotland

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