On Friday I went on a little adventure with my favorite 5-year-old pal. I picked him up from Kindergarten, had a quick lunch, and then we were off to BYU for some important work. I had reserved an overhead scanner so that I could scan the Telesphore Brouillette book my cousin Margaret mailed to me.
Now you might be wondering about my taking a 5-year-old to a Family History Library. (You aren’t the only one. A certain well-known genealogist who has strong opinions about who should and should not work on genealogy doesn’t think he belongs there either. And yet, he is always there when I show up with my kiddo. Haha!) I swear, my kid is the best 5-year-old ever. A few new Kindergarten apps on my phone, and the promise of a “pink cookie” after we are done and that kid is an angel. Well. He is always an angel.
We arrived and I went to the desk because I wasn’t sure which scanner was the one I had reserved, when low and behold I spotted this brand new beauty.
It was love at first sight. I bailed on my scheduled scanner and used this brand-spankin’ new toy. Okay. I don’t actually know how new it really is. It’s new since the last time I went to BYU.
It can’t be reserved, but I lucked out and it was free. I scanned the Telesphore Brouillette book – all 185ish pages – in 45 minutes.
FORTY-FIVE MINUTES!
Do you know how long it would have taken me on a flat-bed scanner?!
Me neither. But a reeeeeeally long time. Like a few weeks. Maybe even two months.
(Insert an explanation here about patrons at the center and not having lots of time and getting bored if I scan for too long. etc. etc.)
The best part was that I was way less worried about damaging the book. It is so simple to just turn the page and hit scan. Way less wear and tear on the spine and binding.
You can see a bit of the fancy scanning tech in this photo. Also the books on Japanese something or other that were the perfect plain black to use as my “weights” to hold the pages open.
I will definitely be using this scanner again. In fact, I did a few test pages of a different item I have been scanning, the painfully slow way, that I am going to compare and see if I like the quality well enough to switch to this scanner.
So for those who may wonder… this scanner can scan at 600 dpi, save to a thumb-drive or upload to the cloud (and maybe email…? I think there were four save options). The available formats include jpeg, pdf, searchable pdf – which is FABULOUSLY accurate by the way, and a few others I ignored. There is no tiff setting. You can save as one set of images or as individual images. You can save in one format and then save again in another format, over and over until you have everything you want. As you are scanning, if you notice a scan isn’t what you want – not straight enough or something – you can select those images and delete them, rescan those pages, and then keep scanning.
I am in love!
My cute little pumpkin was an angel as always. He definitely earned his “pink cookie” after a nice leisurely stroll across campus. He insisted on stomping on crunchy leaves and then throwing them up in the air by the handsful while I took some pictures.
Isn’t he adorable? ❤️❤️❤️
Happy Monday, I hope you make a fantastic genealogy discovery this week!
ps – I have been very absent the last two months. I have some serious catching up to do. Thank you for hanging with me. xoxo
Hi Amberly. I have been MIA, too. That is real life. It is the quality not the quantity of posting and commenting that counts. I would rather read one concise highly focused posting from a blog friend every few weeks than unfocused overly long posts filled with superficial comments. You are doing fine and your son is. Indeed very cute.
Thank you, EmilyAnn. I’m just feeling bad that I haven’t had time to read any posts lately. But you right, that is real life. And thank you, I think he is very cute also. <3
I understand. Right now my days are on speed dial. I cannot keep up with the. Blogs but when I do read I get the gist. I think you do, too.
🙂
That scanner sounds wonderful. I sure could have used it on some past projects!
Bravo taking your sweet son with you, even if others disagree. What better time for a person to learn the importance of family history work than in their youth?
It really is! I’m very impressed by it. Thank you, and I completely agree – he is learning well how important family history is. <3
Your son is adorable! And what a good mom you are, taking him with you and feeling so absolutely positive about him! As for the scanner—wow. Sounds amazing.
Thank you, Amy! He really is a joy to me. I have an 11 year gap between him and his next older sibling. That long period of waiting and hoping has meant that I enjoy and nurture him in a completely different way than I did with his older brothers. And yes, the scanner is amazing. 🙂
As we mature, we definitely appreciate our children in a very different way. I know that I appreciate my grandsons on a whole different level than I did my daughters at that same age.
It’s so true. It has made me grateful for the gap I didn’t plan.
I’m so excited to see Uncle Telesphore’s book scanned so that everyone will have a chance to read it and see what an interesting character he was. Your enthusiasm for what you do reminds me of my youngest daughter (and the same wit). Taking your son along just reinforces your teaching him good manners.
Thank you, Margaret! I am excited too. I forgot to scan the photo pages on a nicer scanner – the slow way – on Friday. I will do that this week and then mail the book back. Thank you again!!
Your baby boy is soooo gorgeous. That first photo of his is just briliant and gotta be the cover shot of your family calendar (if you do one). And I’m with Amy — good on you for taking him along (and for parenting your kids so well they CAN be taken). The boychild has been my companion / helper on so many projects that other people thought were inappropriate for a kid. He has been to business meetings, hung out in academic libraries and archives, even gone to lectures with me when I was studying. Yay for engaging our kids with learning!!
Thank you, Su! I was so happy with that photo. I have a new iphone and the portrait mode has produced a few gems like that. I’m not organized enough to do a family calendar – but you are right, it is definitely cover worthy. 🙂 I love that your son was such a good companion for you as well! I take my little fella everywhere. He goes to Daughters of the Utah Pioneers with me every month. It is at a retirement home and most of the women are 70+. He loves them. He sits quietly and colors during the presentations and then enjoys refreshments with all of us and chats with his “adopted” Grandmas. Everyone is sad this will be his last year since it’s at 1 pm and he will be in 1st grade next year. He really is a delight to me and a wonderful little pal. <3
🙂 I’m not sure we’ll be doing a family calendar this year. I struggle to get any photos of the boy-child these days. I love that your little one is so at home with his adopted “grandmas”. The social skills he’s learning now will be invaluable as he grows older. I understand how they’ll miss him next year. 🙂
<3