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What is OCR?

OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition. OCR is a software tool that can extract typed text from some documents. It works best on consistent and clear modern typeface.

Do I still need to review pages started with OCR?

Yes! OCR is imperfect. It may not work well for some or all parts of a typed page, but it can be a great starting point. If you started a page with OCR, you should read the text closely before submitting. If you are reviewing a OCR-ed page, you also still need to review.

Why does By the People have this feature?

We always want to use volunteer time effectively. When the Library of Congress digitizes a large group of printed pages, it will usually OCR them. The materials in By the People campaigns are not good candidates for applying OCR at scale, either because they are handwritten, a mixed collection (containing handwritten and print materials) or printed but on paper or in a typeface that does not produce accurate OCR results. However, OCR can still be a useful starting point for some typed pages. Use it if it if you like it or skip it if you don’t!