One of many reasons that I wish I had started getting serious about genealogy when I was  younger (the #1 being that could have quizzed my grandparents), is that my 50-year-old eyes have a hard time with small type. When I print out census and other documents, as I’m prone to do, I find it challenging to make out the type, even with my reading glasses on.
A few months back, I bought an unlighted magnifying glass, which I use a great deal.
I upped the ante earlier this month and bought myself a Illuminated Magnifier and Desk Lamp. It has a goose neck, so I can angle and lower the magnifying glass. And the best part is the light that shines down on the paper. There’s also a little 5X magnifier if you need to get extra close. It reminds me of the magnifying glass you can use on Ancestry when viewing censuses online. It runs on batteries or a power cord. I take could see taking this with me to the library, though it’s by no means tiny.
I just received it last week and I haven’t put it to a whole lot of use yet, but I’m pleased. And I imagine it will come in handy for papers not related to genealogy.
Good idea as small print in a dark area is a real monster. Believe it or not we used these in the late 1960s prior to integrated circuits – chips – in electronics because they had minaturized the old circuitry.
Thanks for your comment and that little bit of history, Jerry! That use makes great sense to me.