Gotta get a scanner. What do I need to know?

Hey all. I’m thinking of getting a scanner - have a whole bunch of documents from which I need to get information and put it into Word document form. Currently, I and others are merely reading and typing. A quick scan which could be cut and pasted would be far quicker.

Unfortunately, I know very little about scanners. Can people give me pointers on the kind of scanner and software I should be getting?