By Kimberly Hopson
L’Observateur

LAPLACE – The St. John the Baptist Parish Public Library’s central branch recently acquired a sleek new piece of equipment that will help patrons’ search for historical information go much more smoothly.
The Konica Minolta SL1000 Digital Film Scanner is a state-of-the-art, high-speed solution for scanning and digitizing a wide variety of film originals. Compatible film types include: microfiche, 16mm microfilm rolls and cartridges, 35mm microfilm, color transparencies and negatives up to 35mm. The scanner is an excellent resource for genealogical research or newspaper archives stored on microfilm.
The $8,700 scanner was purchased with dollars from the library’s general fund.
Library assistant Lisa Poncia said the best aspect of the scanner is its easy-to-use interface. The Konica is about half the size of some older model scanners.
“This one can do a lot more, and it’s quicker and really user friendly. It’s easier to put
the reels on,” said Poncia, pointing to a diagram behind the reel mounts. “On the old machines you had to figure out what to do, but when this (program) comes up, you’ll see little icons across the bottom. We’ve had about a dozen or so people use it, and they love it.”
To ask for a demonstration, contact the library at 985-652-6857.