4.6 Source Data Entry Devices

Entry of data into a computer system directly from the source, without transcription is called source data entry. Source data entry devices have a lower probability of error in input data than standard keyboard entry. Some of the common source data entry devices are discussed below:

4.6.1 Digital Camera

A Digital camera is an electronic device which takes video or still photographs or both, digitally by recording images via an electronic image sensor. Digital cameras can do things which film cameras can’t, for example displaying images on screen immediately after they are recorded

Images recorded on a digital camera can be cropped for editing, deleted and various types of special effects can be created by using Photoshop software.

Digital cameras look like ordinary cameras but have sufficient memory in the form of chips to store thousands of images, rather than using photographic films. 

 
Most digital cameras allow users to choose the resolution needed for a picture. Most of those can connect directly to a computer to transfer data. A USB port is generally used for this purpose. A Wireless connection can also be used for connecting to a computer via Bluetooth

These cameras use memory cards with flash memory to store images. The joint photographing expert’s group standard (JPEG) is the most common file format used for storing data in a camera. Other formats include raw image format, DNG format etc.

4.6.2 Scanners 

A Scanner is an input device and is used to input data into the computer system in the form of pictures. It optically scans images, printed text, handwriting, or an object, and converts it to a digital image. Examples of scanners are a desktop or flatbed scanner.

In scanners the document is placed on a glass window for scanning. Mechanically driven scanners that move the document are typically used for large-formatted volume of documents. 


Another type of scanner is a planetary scanner. This scanner takes photographs of books and documents. Three dimensional scanners are used for producing three-dimensional models of objects.

4.6.3 Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) 

OMR is the scanning of paper to detect the presence or absence of a mark in a predetermined position. Now days, it is used as an input device for source data entry purposes. Universities and colleges often use OMR for the evaluation of OMR sheets for competitive exams. OMR sheets consist of multiple choice question papers and students are required to make a mark to indicate their answers. OMR is used in the evaluation of questionnaires, surveys and university exam OMR sheets.

4.6.4 Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) 

 Magnetic Ink Character Recognition is a character recognition system that uses special ink and characters. When a document that contains this ink needs to be read, it passes through a machine, which magnetizes the ink and then translates the magnetic information into characters.

MICR technology is used by banks for faster processing of large volumes of cheques. Numbers and characters found on the bottom of checks (usually containing the check number, sort number, and account number) are printed using Magnetic Ink. To print Magnetic Ink codes, we need a laser printer that accepts MICR toner.

MICR provides a secure, high-speed method of scanning and processing information. This technology is used for processing large volume of data. It speeds up data input for the bank because cheques can be directly fed into the input device as it also ensures accuracy of data entry. The most commonly used character set by MICR devices are known as E13B font which consists of the numerals 0 to 9, and four special characters.

4.6.5 Bar Code Reader


The bar code is 13 digits long and it has four main divisions. The First two digits of a bar code represent the country, the second part represents the manufacturer’s code (five digits) the third part represents the product code (five digits) and the last digit is a check digit

4.6.6 Magnetic Stripe Reade

A magnetic reader is a hardware device which is used to read the information encoded in the magnetic stripe located at the back of a credit/debit card. A bank card holds data about the owner of the card, bank account number and code of the bank branch, where the account is held.


Magnetic stripe readers are often used at supermarkets and in many different types of shops. In these machines data is read electronically and the point of sale is called Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS).

There are several other pick devices such as microphones and speakers. These have been discussed in length under the section Out Put Devices section of this unit.