SECTION 3 : HELP WITH SCANNING APPS

and

edit on 14-3-2017 by IsaacKoi because: (no reason given)



I'm looking for a few guinea pigs to try out a free scanning app, to see how easy a few people find it to download and use to scan a few documents/periodicals using their smart phone or tablet.I've had a couple of other people try out one app that has had good reviews: one person got pretty good results, but the other obtained rather disappointing results (both using iPhones). So, I'd like a slightly larger sample size of tests on various devices.The app that, after a bit of online reading, I've focused upon is ScanBot - partly because it is available for AndroidiOS products and the basic product (which I think is all that anyone needs) is free. While there are commercial upgrades, I'm keen to just test the free version. (If I am going to ask volunteers to install an app, I think it has to be free). So, please _don't_ upgrade to a paid version of this app (e.g. to do OCR, which can be done on a PC by me) for the purposes of this test.Here is the relevant Android link for the free Scanbot on the Google Playstore:And here is the relevant iPhone link for the free Scanbot on the iTunes app store:It would be great if a few volunteers could just install this free app on their own device and try it out to scan a few random pages of documents/periodicals (ideally sending a few samples to me via email or Wetransfer.com etc, with an indication of the device used).I'm particularly interested in how easy you find it to install/use and how good the results are using your particular device.Any app I recommend to people that volunteer to visit relevant archives needs to be easy to install and use. (I realise that the results of such an app may not be up to the usual standards of scans of UFO material by, say, the AFU - but there is a balance to be struck between ease of use on freely available equipment by volunteers in different places or getting no volunteers at all...).If this works well (and my initial tests at home on a new Android mobile telephone have been pretty promising), I can think of a few interesting possibilities which I’ll outline in my next (final?) item. I have in mind seeking volunteers around the world to visit various archives and photograph/scan specified documents / periodicals. In particular:(1) From my research so far, there are various government files that I think probably contain UFO documents that aren't currently available online on government websites or UFO websites. A few of the relevant documents are likely to rather interesting. (I’m hoping that the help sought in Section 1 above will provide some material to illustrate this point…).(2) There are some gaps in periodicals held by the AFU and the other archives that have kindly co-operated with me so far. I've identified a few archives which may hold additional issues of relevant publications. Some of those periodicals are of considerable significance to the history of ufology, so I'd like to fill in the gaps.As most of you probably know, back in 1999, the Proceedings of the Sign Historical Group included an attempt to outline the content of various UFO archives in several universities and in the hands of private UFO groups/researchers. Those Proceedings are online at:Since 1999, a number of guides to relevant collections have been made available online by some of the relevant universities and others.As a basic tool, a while back I created searchable PDFs containing details of relevant archives (mainly in universities) found using the ArchiveGrid website that John Reed helpfully drew to my attention a while ago. That search engine can be found at: beta.worldcat.org... The 4 PDF files at the link below contain details of 322 archives found as a result of a search for "ufo OR ufos OR unidentified flying object OR unidentified flying objects":I've also started a directory online storing inventories of various UFO document collection.My preliminary work in 2014 resulted in a directory which includes entries for collections relating to the groups and individuals listed below.AFUAldrich, JanAllende, CarlosBarker, GrayBloecher, TedBott, MurrayBray, ArthurCarr, Robert SpencerChalker, BillCISUCondon, EdwardConnors, WendyCraig, RoyCUFOSDavidson, LeonFawcett, GeorgeFontes, OlavosFuller, JohnGreenwood, BarryGross, LorenHill, PaulHynek, J AllenJones, William EKeyhoe, DonaldKlass, PhilipMancusi, BrunoMcdonald, JamesMenzel, DonaldPaijmans, TheoPflock, KarlPickett, JackRoach, FranklinRuppelt, EdwardSagan, CarlSalisbury, FrankSanderson, Ivan TScully, FrankSprinkle, LeoSwords, MichaelTulien, ThomasUfodexWebb, JackWilliamson, George HuntIf you'd like to browse these entries then you can see the current state of play online at:I've uploaded a zipped version of that (basic, but expanding) directory to the temporary link below: