scanner model best for bookshare

Built a scanner? Started to build a scanner? Record your progress here. Doesn't need to be a whole scanner - triggers and other parts are fine. Commercial scanners are fine too.

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jackiegrrrl
Posts: 2
Joined: 09 Feb 2015, 17:16
E-book readers owned: none
Number of books owned: 50
Country: USA

scanner model best for bookshare

Post by jackiegrrrl »

So I am working with bookshare.org to get more book into there collection:

Benetech operates Bookshare under an exception to copyright law called the Chafee Amendment (17 U.S.C. § 121), which makes Bookshare legally possible in the U.S. The Chafee Amendment allows us to provide copyrighted digital books as long as they are available only to people with bona fide print disabilities.


The only file format they accept is rtf (so reading pdfs is out).

So I am looking for recommendations for a scanner build or buy. I am very comfortable with the *nix command line interface. I am not great at building stuff.

Any options or ideas would be very welcome.
cday
Posts: 451
Joined: 19 Mar 2013, 14:55
Number of books owned: 0
Country: UK

Re: scanner model best for bookshare

Post by cday »

jackiegrrrl wrote:The only file format they accept is rtf ...

So I am looking for recommendations for a scanner build or buy ... I am not great at building stuff.
If you need to output to rtf and are only looking to scan a reasonably limited number of books, a standard inexpensive flatbed scanner with bundled OCR software could be used to output to Word doc format, which could then be resaved as rtf, or you might be able to output to rtf directly. For a higher volume requiring faster scanning you could use a more expensive scanner model; if you could scan cut single pages, a sheet fed model would be substantially faster.

As a starting point you might look at the basic Epson flatbed scanners, which are inexpensive, use CCD rather than CCD sensors, and normally come bundled with the excellent Abbyy Sprint OCR software.

http://www.epson.com

http://www.abbyy.com/finereader_sprint/faqs/
Epson V37.pdf
(555.29 KiB) Downloaded 358 times
If you need to scan a larger number of pages then a photographic process could be much faster, but that would be moving up substantially in overall complexity.
jackiegrrrl
Posts: 2
Joined: 09 Feb 2015, 17:16
E-book readers owned: none
Number of books owned: 50
Country: USA

Re: scanner model best for bookshare

Post by jackiegrrrl »

Ok let me clarify. I have a few options to do this with flat bed or ADF scanners. I am looking for something affordable that I could easily scan 100-1000 books. I think $200 would be best but might be able to go a little higher.
cday
Posts: 451
Joined: 19 Mar 2013, 14:55
Number of books owned: 0
Country: UK

Re: scanner model best for bookshare

Post by cday »

jackiegrrrl wrote:Ok let me clarify. I have a few options to do this with flat bed or ADF scanners. I am looking for something affordable that I could easily scan 100-1000 books. I think $200 would be best but might be able to go a little higher.
Thanks for the clarification!

My suggestion would be a simple starting point using standard equipment, but clearly not suited to a scanning project of that size.

Some people have posted basic camera-based designs based on little more than a camera, tripod or other support, and a light source, for which they have claimed good speeds. And as you are familiar with *nix, there is (unlike Windows, as far as I know) freeware OCR software available, although as a Windows user myself so far I have no experience of it. I'm sorry that I can't post links to the projects I've seen described on the forum in the last year or two. But $200 or so might still be a fairly tight budget.

Beyond that, an obvious choice would be the David Landin design, a very innovative design constructed from readily available materials using basic tools, but you sound as if you might need someone you could turn to for support to build one. That's a pity, as it has always seemed to me that the basic design would lend itself very well to supply as a kit which could be shipped easily, with the main components sourced, cut to size and if possible painted or otherwise made non-reflective. The acrylic sheets for the platen might have to be joined after delivery, which although David said in his original video that that was easy, might be an issue for some people, and the counterweights, lighting, and solvent adhesive required might be best sourced separately.

Other ideas?
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