Book scanning is all about converting books, magazines and other publications into a digital format using some type of scanner.
This means that these publications can be broadly distributed at very low cost and that they can be accessed online at any time.
The scanning process has dramatically changed in the last few years, particularly in the commercial and educational sectors and many different types of bookscanner are now available.  

In the early days, individual pages had to be placed on a flat plate to be scanned but improvements were made which allowed a book for example, to be positioned in a frame beneath adevice like a digital camera. The pages could then be turned by hand or by an automated page turner. A software package has also been produced to make certain that the final image isappropriately set up and sized and in some versions the software program can actually “iron out” any creases on the page or get rid of any distortions which may have occurred due to the page not being absolutely flat.
Commercial book scanners have now becomeparticularly advanced and are capable of scanning thousands of page per hour.

From time to time where books or magazines are not expensive or unusual in any way the binding is removed to provide loose pages for scanning. Equipment which will cut through up to a thousand pages simultaneouslys also available. This approach is of course, very harmful andrather unsuitable for priceless or rare books. There are now different types of book scanner available where the complete process is automated and the book can remain intact. Sophisticated software ensures that the final image is almost exactly like the original page.
 
Where is this kind of technology essential? There are a lot of projects currently ongoing where lots of of books have to be scanned for example, where an organisation wants to make its archive of specialized or cultural publications available to a global target audience.

Book scanners have indeed come very far from their initial development and are now seen as an necessary item of technology both in the commercial and education sectors.