We’ve got a roundup of portable scanners, advice on going green with your research and a look at the new FamilySearch Beta website.

Ep. 28: September 2010

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In this episode:

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The Editor’s Desk with Allison Stacy

Allison gives us some ideas on ways to go green with your research.

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News from the Blogosphere with Diane Haddad

Diane gives us an update on the new FamilySearch Beta website. All the digitized records from Pilot are on Beta, and it’s open to the public. According to Diane it’s “the place to go to search FamilySearch records.”

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Top Tips: Wide Open Spaces

Rick Crume gives you some space saving ideas from his article “Wide Open Spaces” in the November issue of Family Tree Magazine.

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Best Websites: Digital Library of Georgia

Lisa takes a look at the Digital Library of Georgia website.

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Family Tree University Crash Course

Nancy Hendrickson provides you with tips for digital photography from her FTU class Digital Photography Essentials. Visit Family Tree University to register for more online classes and webinars.

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Safe Keeping: Portable Scanners

Grace Dobush talks about new scanners that are small enough to take on your next research trip.

PlanOn DocuPen X series
Price: $299-$399
Weight: 2.5 oz.
Power source: Battery rechargeable through USB cable
Storage method: Uses an SD memory card
Operating systems: Windows 2000, XP, Vista and 7, Mac 10.5 and 10.6
Features: pen style; scans to JPG and TIFF; 150-1200 dpi; freescans.

VuPoint Magic Wand
Price: $99.99
Weight: 7.5 oz.
Power source: 2 AA batteries
Storage method: uses a Micro SD card up to 32GB
Operating systems: Windows XP and Vista, Mac 10.4 and above
Features: pen style; scans to JPG; 300-600 dpi; 10 inches long; freescans.

IrisPen 6 (Express, Executive or Translator)
Price: $129-$199
Weight: 1.8 oz.
Power source: Powered by USB
Storage method: no built-in memory; must be connected to a computer
Operating systems: Windows XP, Vista or 7; Mac 10.3.9 or newer; requires USB port
Features: pen style; scans text in black and white; exports text to any application you can type in; OCR (that’s optical character recognition) for 128 languages; Translator version works in six languages.

IRIScan Anywhere 2
Price: $199
Weight: 1 lb.
Power source: Battery rechargeable through USB cable
Storage method: 512MB flash memory and a 1 GB SD card is included
Operating systems: Windows XP, Vista or 7; Mac 10.4 or newer; requires DVD drive and USB port
Features: sheetfed, letter size; 300-600 dpi resolution; scans to JPG; doesn’t have to be connected to a computer to scan.

HP Scanjet Professional 1000
Price: $249.99
Weight: 1.4 lb.
Power source: USB port
Storage method: no built-in memory; must be connected to a computer
Operating systems: Windows XP, Vista and 7, Mac 10.5 and 10.6
Features: 200-600 dpi; sheetfed; max document size 8.5 x 14 in.; can scan two sides at once; scans to PDF, TIFF, JPEG, Word and more; includes USB cable.

Flip-Pal
Price: $149.99
Weight: 1 lb. 4.5 oz.
Power source: 4 AA batteries
Storage method: uses SD or SDHC cards
Operating systems: Windows and Mac; requires USB port
Features: flatbed that you can flip; 300-660 dpi; stores scans on an SD card; can scan textured objects.

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Your Host: Lisa Louise Cooke

Listen to Lisa Louise Cooke’s Genealogy Gems and Genealogy: Family History Made Easy podcasts in iTunes and visit her website for great research ideas, podcast episodes and videos.

Have fun climbing your family tree!