Scanning documents is a free way of obtaining research information from books and reserve items. Keep an eye open for patrons who are standing at the copier/scanner with a puzzled look, and ask if they need help.
There are two ways to scan, to:
- e-mail
- a USB/flash drive
The USB drive option is better because it's faster, more reliable, and allows for larger file sizes.
Tips:
- Smaller items, such as passports, driver's licences, etc. may need to have a plain sheet of paper placed behind them, as sometimes the scanner can't find them otherwise.
- Use a fingernail rather than a finger-tip to tap the touch-screen.
- If they're copying documents and plan to print them, it's cheaper to send them to their e-mail or save them to a flash drive and print it from their computer account, because double-sided printing cuts the cost in half.
- If they've made any changes from the default settings, these will revert to default as soon as they press "read end" so if they want to scan another document, they'll need to re-enter the special settings.
- The default settings are 200 PPI, black and white, and PDF format. If they are scanning a passport or image, they may want to change the settings under exposure to photo or text and photo.