Tablet for Archival Research?

[ashiepoo72]

Hey guys, I was wondering if any of you use tablets to take photos in archives. I've been using my iPhone coupled with a laptop, but I like the idea of only having to carry a tablet and having the bigger screen to read documents and see if the photos are clear. I lost (personally I think it was stolen and sold, but that's another story) my iPad 2 a few years back and don't want to buy a replacement because I'm a broke grad student. I was hoping for recommendations of tablets that take good pictures and have decent organizational capabilities, but are also reasonably priced. I take notes by hand (old school right?) and use my laptop to write papers and surf the net, so I don't need a fancy tablet that can do everything.

If you don't use a tablet, what do you use?

[dr. t]

I use a Nikon D3200 camera, but I am interested in codicology, and some of my texts are palimpsests, so image quality is very important to me. I have seen some people (art historians, mainly) use iPads in their work, but none regularly. Although if you're interested in just the word on the page, and the word is in a modern typefont, you might check the DPI suggestions for ABBYY FineReader (probably the best OCR software a grad student can afford), and make a decision off that. 

[Eigen]

There's a good discussion on the Chronicle of Higher Education issues about this. I'll look it up and post it to here later. 

[ashiepoo72]

Thanks! My sources are almost entirely in modern type, mostly I just need something that takes good pictures and can organize stuff. I'd like to set up folders or something within the device so I know what archive, collection and box things come from, which I'm now doing by hand. A bigger screen than a camera or phone would be nice, but if there isn't anything worthwhile I'll probably stick with my iPhone/laptop combo, even though it's unwieldy.

[Eigen]

http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php?topic=190399.0;topicseen

Is the CHE thread. Short-ish from this year, but there are some others back in the archives.

[the_flying_k]

If cost is the only factor steering you away from the iPad, I'd recommend used or refurbished.  I've gotten two laptops from sellers on the LEM (Low End Mac) Swap List, both of which were in good condition and have lasted for years.  I just checked, and someone is selling a 3rd Gen iPad now that might meet your needs: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/lemswap/ipad|sort:date/lemswap/gYrznp1ORO8/EhSxLQL8BgAJ

If not, try Other World Computing; they offer nice refurbished Apple Products at reasonable prices.  I got my first laptop from them in 2005, and have purchased other components (drives, software, peripherals) from them over the years.  They have several iPads right now: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Apple-Systems/Used/Apple-iPad-Tablets?_ga=1.55656291.999890133.1450013606

If you aren't looking to buy right away, it's worth checking these sites frequently, especially after the holidays, when people are selling their old tech after getting new devices as gifts.

P.S. This is my first post here - hope that's ok!  I'm an Early Americanist with an MA/MLS (History/Archives) applying to PhD programs this cycle.  Someone in my cohort used an iPad extensively for photographing 20th century documents in the archives when she was doing research for her thesis and seemed quite happy with the results.

 

[Eigen]

I completely second buying refurbished things from apple. 

ATM, you can get an iPad Air/iPad Mini 2 refurbished from apple quite cheaply, and both will do everything you need. 

I've always been a bit leery of buying "refurbished" from third parties- especially because battery life is so important. Refurbished from Apple includes a new battery & a new warranty. 

[ashiepoo72]

Thanks, that's a great idea! I love Apple products, the price totally is why I don't want to get a new iPad. I figured it wasn't worth it when all I need the tablet for is pictures and organizing. I will check out refurbished iPads and see if I find anything in my price range.

[Eigen]

The best bang for your buck right now, imo, is a 2nd generation iPad Mini. It's still well supported, and should do everything you want. 

It was on sale (new) for $179 on Black Friday a number of places, and I've seen it consistently in the $200-$230 range since ($229 is a 16gb refurbished model from Apple).

[landscapes-of]

(Sorry, lurker.) I use an iPad Mini, the first generation. I love its mobility and especially its size for archival work but I'm honestly not convinced it offers much more than any other tablet. I have, however, read that some of the Kindles just don't have high-quality cameras. If you do decide to go the iPad route, it looks like Walmart (sorry) still has the $199 deal. I've been using mine for two years now and it's going great. You'd have to budget for a protective case, too, or else (if you are like me) you will drive yourself crazy with worry.

The major problems I run up against with it in the archives are:

1. Not long after taking snaps of documents (and, okay, selfies and pictures of my cat) the thing run's out of space. Not a huge problem when you use Dropbox etc. but it can make it less difficult to have your research materials on hand all the time. You can get a 32G iPad instead of the 16, but it costs a lot more and I can't imagine it's worth it.
2. It's kind of hard to hold the thing and take a picture of something, especially when you're holding it above a document. (It is also kind of a pain to take mirror selfies.) Just awkwardly-sized with weird button placement.
3. I don't love the photo organizational features and automatic photo (focus, stabilization) settings, but I've recently learned about a universe of apps that make this simpler, like these. A friend of mine uses a really neat one that would allow you to make folders (which could more conveniently group photos you take based on their archival location and streamline note-taking and ideally improve your citations) but I totally can't remember which one it is. It's my new year's resolution to be more organized in this respect so I will ask her which app it was and report back ASAP!

[ashiepoo72]

Thanks for the suggestion! The more research I do, the more I realize I need to save for an iPad. I tested the camera on an Amazon and android tablet, both weren't sharp enough for what I need. I'm thinking I'll lurk on Craigslist and eBay after Christmas in the hopes that people who got new versions for Christmas will want to get rid of their old ones. Until then, my iPhone will have to do!

Please let me know what that organization app is when you do! It sounds fab.

[Eigen]

I've been using TurboScan a lot, and it works reeaallly well. I can get as good or better document scans than my desktop scanner, and it automatically detects the page pretty well, adjusts for tilt, and gives you a "flat" image. 

You can easily stitch together multi-page documents with it, and export to dropbox/any other app/email PDFs. I especially like that you can go back at any time to replace/add another page to a multi-page project you're already working on. You can add another page, drag it to the position you want, and re-save the whole thing really fast.

I use it in conjunction with GoodReader, which I use to organize PDF's & documents on my iPad. I can set folders to manually/automatically sync via dropbox, either to my iPad (for my papers on my computer) or from my iPad (for scans, etc.). 

I use the scanner function mostly to take snaps of my lab notebooks/random pages of notes on my desk so I have digital copies (PDFs) of them on the go, but I also recently used it for some late 1800s documents my Grandmother had, and it did an admirable job of getting really good copies of ancient newsprint.

Also worth noting the TurboScan app is universal, and I use it on my iPhone as well- so that might be a good interim solution for you.

[emhafe]

Ok, I'm going to just toss out there that I got a Surface Pro 3 for grad school back in June and I have to say, I love it! Completely revolutionized how I organize my notes, has a very long battery life, and has the benefits of a laptop when you need it. There's a port for a USB (only one, so I sometimes have to take out my wireless mouse to use it), keyboard, the pen capabilities for writing are fantastic--I frequently add jstor articles to OneNote then annotate them that way instead of the default pdf reader. While I haven't done any archival research, it's wonderful for other research. If you're already set on the apple products, that's great, just thought I'd let everyone know how much I love my Surface Pro!

[landscapes-of]

On 12/21/2015 at 1:47 PM, ashiepoo72 said:

Please let me know what that organization app is when you do! It sounds fab.

The app I was thinking of was Scanner Pro. I'm going to buy it myself (it's only a few dollars) in the next few weeks and see how I like it.

[Chiqui74]

I'm going on my first official archival research mission tomorrow (I'm excited and terrified all at once). The last time I went to the archives (for fun), I took pictures of the documents with an Olympus micro 4/3 camera, but tomorrow I'm taking a smaller Canon G7x.  I still will try to take notes on a word doc in addition to the photos, and I need to find a system of saving and organizing the photos.  I use Mendeley but have only used it for secondary sources so far so I will have to look into it.

[kotov]

Gosh, y'all are fancy. I'm an index card/legal pad/shoebox kind of guy. I used my phone to take pictures of documents when I needed to, which wasn't ideal, but I made it work. Scanpro (or whatever it's called) and its function that lets you create pdfs from microfilm slides was also a lifesaver for me.

As far as a tablet goes, I don't even own one for personal use, so I'm not sure what advice to give. I think my wife likes her iPad Mini, but she's not using it for archival research.

[TMP]

While I haven't read the above comments but I'll say this...

IPad, hands down.  I have the regular size with 32 GB and store everything to the Dropbox app (which is sync in cloud and to my laptop).  I use the GoodReader app for annotating PDFs and upload every journal article and dissertation to there.  I have HD Scan Pro which I scan anything I want, edit the image (better contrast), and put them together into one PDF.  I also use EverNote on it. The IPad battery is quite good-- lasts for 8 hours of constant use or scanning 400 pages, whichever comes first.

The only thing I cannot really do with my iPad is Microsoft Office/word processing.

Tablets are great for traveling- the TSA lets you keep it in your bag and so it's one less tray.

[fortsibut]

On a sort of related note, any of you have any ideas about some kind of archival software that can label files with different tags?  I've been working on a project where I have access to a document scanner, and I've been scanning to PDF files.  Navigating through file folders and trying to keep everything straight is a real hassle though, and it'd be so much nicer if there was software with an interface that let you throw tags on each file like "Africa," "Missions," "Gender," "(person's name)," etc. and use it to pull up those docs as well.  (I guess similar to what you can do in Gmail with emails)  My google-fu has been failing me, though.  Right now I try to keep things organized on Google Drive, but there's a space cap and it's still not really idea.

I'd appreciate any advice you have.  I've had a solid undergrad education from a history and language perspective, but I haven't had access to archival courses or information.  Thanks!

[rising_star]

Maybe Evernote?

[elinen]

 

On 12 February 2016 at 6:51 AM, fortsibut said:

On a sort of related note, any of you have any ideas about some kind of archival software that can label files with different tags?  I've been working on a project where I have access to a document scanner, and I've been scanning to PDF files.  Navigating through file folders and trying to keep everything straight is a real hassle though, and it'd be so much nicer if there was software with an interface that let you throw tags on each file like "Africa," "Missions," "Gender," "(person's name)," etc. and use it to pull up those docs as well.  (I guess similar to what you can do in Gmail with emails)  My google-fu has been failing me, though.  Right now I try to keep things organized on Google Drive, but there's a space cap and it's still not really idea.

I'd appreciate any advice you have.  I've had a solid undergrad education from a history and language perspective, but I haven't had access to archival courses or information.  Thanks!

I'm using DevonThink. It works well (labelling files et cetera) but it isn't free. Some universities offer deals though. 

[fortsibut]

9 hours ago, elinen said:

 

I'm using DevonThink. It works well (labelling files et cetera) but it isn't free. Some universities offer deals though. 

Thanks, I'll check it out now!