Thanks for all the recommendations.
I have been thinking of purchasing a good multifunction printer/scanner for a while that also has duplex scanning and printing. Yes, I understand that I cannot use the duplex scanning functionality for photos as it may damage the photos, but I will use the duplex scanning functionality for other documents (bills, etc.). And yes, I do not need to scan film negatives. So would a multifunction printer/scanner scan as well as a dedicated photo scanner? I would be scanning in the 600 dpi range, although I can imagine scanning at 1200 dpi range as well.
In terms of software, I was thinking the photo scanner software (e.g. with the Epson V600) would be better than the software that one would have with a normal multifunction printer/scanner. Is this a correct assumption? Is there software out there that I can purchase that would help me with scanning, e.g. scanning multiple photos at once, editing photo metadata (e.g. time, location, people in photos), automatically retouching the photos?
I do want to create a fairly straightforward workflow for my mom to scan the photos, save the photos onto her computer, perhaps edit the photo metadata, and then putting the physical photo into photo protector sheets. I don't want her to have to perform any retouching of the digital photo, if possible. I definitely want to keep the old physical photos and do not prefer newly printed photo albums.