scanning technology, AGRICOLA IND 92047818; presented at IAALD Symposium on "Advances in Information Technology", September, 1991, Beltsville, MD, This paper addresses the questions most frequently asked about scanning : Why are we doing it? How exactly is it done? What does it cost? The answer to why we do it touches on the global forces that are shaping the Information Age. The many purposes for which scanning systems can be sued represent a force in themselves that is explored in some detail. Regardless of the purpose, image scanning and optical character recognition (OCR) systems are made up of much the same components, and these are described. The focus is on operational procedures, work flow, throughput, staffing needs, and costs based on the experiences of the U.S. National Agricultural Text Digitizing Project at NAL. (original)
