Mark sense
| Industry | Information technology, Computer hardware |
|---|---|
| Founded | June 16, 1911 in Endicott, New York, United States |
Key people | Reynold B. Johnson (engineer) |
| Products | Mark sense technology, IBM 805 Test Scoring Machine, IBM 513 Reproducing Punch, IBM 514 Reproducing Punch, IBM 557 Alphabetic Interpreter, IBM 519 Electric Document Originating Machine |
Electrographic describes technology involving punched-card and page-scanning systems that convert pages or cards marked with a pencil into punched cards. IBM led the development and promotion of this technology under the name mark sense for both form handling and processing equipment. Today, the term broadly encompasses methods that process marks made by standard writing instruments, including optical mark recognition as well as electrographic techniques.
The designation "mark sense" generally excludes technologies that interpret the shape of marks, which are instead processed using optical character recognition. The Federal Government favored the use of "electrographic" as a commercial term.
Between the 1940s and 1960s, mark sense technologies found extensive use in applications such as processing meter readings on turnaround documents and logging long-distance telephone call data. Companies like Dur-O-Lite Pencil Company and Autopoint Company produced thousands of pencils specifically designed for mark sense applications, featuring inscriptions like "MARK SENSE LEAD" for the "Bell System" and "US Government Electrographic" for federal purposes.
In the early 1930s, science educator Reynold B. Johnson invented an automated test scoring device. IBM purchased this innovation and employed Johnson as an engineer; it was marketed under the name IBM 805 Test Scoring Machine. The American Council on Education's Cooperative Test Service was the first to widely implement this technology in 1936; this organization later merged into the Educational Testing Service in 1947. Johnson continued to advance electrographic mark-sense devices throughout his career.
IBM produced equipment compatible with mark sense cards, including models such as the IBM 513 and IBM 514 Reproducing Punches, the IBM 557 Alphabetic Interpreter, and the IBM 519 Electric Document Originating Machine.