Machine readable identification systems: An overview. [Bar code and other labeling methods]

Technical Report · Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1987

OSTI ID:6134186

Smith, F J; Cantor, S

The application of automated identification of an item by the use of machine readable methods is improving the accuracy and speed of data capture. Bar codes, optical character recognition, magnetic strips, and magnetic-ink recognition are all current machine readable methods which are used for data collection. Bar code data collection is the most used technology for real time inventory control, tracking, and point of sale applications. Magnetic strip coding is used for highly compact data identification on ID cards and on tags. Optical character recognition is generally used today to capture documents for computer storage and recall. Magnetic-ink character recognition, though used widely in banking, has limited applications elsewhere. Bar code methods are currently experiencing a faster rate of growth than the other technologies. Emphasis of this paper is on bar coding because of its popularity. The fundamentals of bar coding are discussed and labeling and scanning techniques are presented. New, automatic data-collection techniques are being developed, utilizing microcircuits and compact-disk memory media. The greatly increased memory capacity of these systems will likely lead to identification in terms of definitive characteristics of the item.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 6134186
• Report Number(s): ORNL/TM-10385; ON: DE88001523
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products. Original copy available until stock is exhausted
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEMS
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
IDENTIFICATION SYSTEMS
MAGNETIC STORAGE DEVICES
MEMORY DEVICES
RECORDING SYSTEMS
OPTICAL SCANNERS
PATTERN RECOGNITION
REVIEWS
DOCUMENT TYPES
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT
OPTICAL EQUIPMENT
990300* - Information Handling