Document processing

Document processing involves the conversion of typed and handwritten text on paper-based & electronic documents (e.g., scanned image of a document) into electronic information using one of, or a combination of, intelligent character recognition (ICR), optical character recognition (OCR) and experienced data entry clerks. Document processing involves the conversion of typed and handwritten text on paper-based & electronic documents (e.g., scanned image of a document) into electronic information using one of, or a combination of, intelligent character recognition (ICR), optical character recognition (OCR) and experienced data entry clerks. It can be performed in-house or through Business process outsourcing. As relatively recent as 2007, document processing for 'millions of visa and citizenship applications' was about use of 'approximately 1,000 contract workers' working to 'manage mailroom and data entry.' While document processing involved data entry via keyboard well before use of a computer mouse or a computer scanner, a 1990 New York Times article regarding what it called the 'paperless office' stated that 'document processing begins with the scanner.' A former Xerox Vice-president, Paul Strassman, was quoted as saying that computers add rather than reduce the volume of paper in an office. It was famously said that the engineering and maintenance documents for an airplane weigh more than the airplane itself. As the state of the art advanced, document processing transitioned to handling 'document components ... as database entities.'