Hi, You need to find out if your scanner is supported in linux. Check with this link:
http://www.sane-project.org/cgi-bin/driver.pl

It would be good if you include your scanner type i.e manufactuer, bus, and model#. You will need to know those things to find out if the scanner is supported. Once you have that info configuration can begin. As a general rule scsi scanners are better supported in linux with sane (scanner access now easy). Some usb and parallel port scanners are supported but may not be as easy to set up.