Q. I have a few thousand 35 mm color slides. I'd like to know if there's any agency that's able to convert these slides to digital format. I don't mind scanning several at a time at home, but I don't have time to scan thousands of slides. As an alternative, are you familiar with any slide scanner that does multiple slides at once?

A. Some slide scanners can handle multiple slides at once, but experts advise scanning slides individually to maintain image quality. You might want to consider scanning limited numbers of slides at first. Evaluate your collection and choose a select few.

After carefully examining your slide collection, you're ready to start thinking about purchasing a scanner. With scanners' wide price range — from less than $100 to $2,000 — you need to study your options. Next, identify the key features you want in a scanner. Read user reviews of scanners at <www.epinions.com> before shopping around.