Data is factual information and it needs to be accurately captured in order to be processed. There are many methods to input data and each situation warrants a different method. There can be several different ways to input the information and it can be done in an automatic fashion, as with a computer, or it can be done manually, as with a human writing the information down. For instance, printed questionnaires would best use a special scanning device called an optical data reader that uses optical mark recognition (OMR); when people complete the OMR form using pencils to fill in boxes on OMR paper an optical mark reader (OMR) can convert the pencil marks into digital data. The best method for a telephone survey would be the phone key pad since an integrated voice system (IVR) would be able to capture the touch tone responses. To input data from bank checks, the best method would be an image replacement document (IRD), where a paper facsimile that is the legal equivalent of an original check is transmitted electronically, since this reduces costs and fraud losses. Retail tags can be placed with a microchip, called a smart chip, that easily relays the product information when scanned with a radio-frequency identification (RFID) scanner and this would be the fastest, easiest method for inputting the data into the store’s computer system. Long documents would best be processed with a computer scanner so that the information on the document can be copied exactly and stored easily on the computer for reading or printing. Whatever the situation, there will be a satisfactory method to gather the information.
Output
Once the data has been accurately gathered, the information needs to be produced in some format. This process, known as output, is the opposite of the initial input process. Again, it can be accomplished many ways. For a hand held computer, the best output method would be a small screen called a liquid crystal display screen (LCD) because
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