{"id":1848,"date":"2020-05-15T18:44:11","date_gmt":"2020-05-15T18:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/illinoisnewspaperproject\/?page_id=1848"},"modified":"2025-07-23T17:39:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T17:39:14","slug":"text-correction","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/illinoisnewspaperproject\/get-involved\/text-correction\/","title":{"rendered":"Help with Text Correction"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Digitized Newspapers and Optical Character Recognition (OCR)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/h2>\n
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Text correction improves the accuracy of keyword searches in the Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections<\/a> (IDNC). The text correction module enables users to correct errors introduced during the process of newspaper digitization. Over time, and thanks to the efforts of our volunteer text correctors, these text corrections improve the accuracy of the searchable text.<\/p>\n

When a newspaper is digitized, Optical Character Recognition<\/a> (OCR) software is used to generate searchable text. The resulting text is often called “OCR text,” to distinguish it from the text users see in the digitized image of the newspaper.<\/p>\n

In most digitized newspaper collections (like Newspapers.com), the OCR text remains hidden and users never see the text they are actually searching. What you see in those collections are essentially digital photographs of the newspaper pages. Without OCR, those pages would remain unsearchable.<\/p>\n

OCR enables users to search large quantities of full-text data. It is never 100% accurate. The level of accuracy depends on a number of factors, including the quality of the original print issue, its condition at the time of microfilming, the level of detail captured by the scanner, and the quality of the OCR software. Problems like dirty or damaged pages, thin paper, small print, mixed fonts, and complex page layouts can reduce OCR accuracy.<\/p>\n

The IDNC’s text correction module gives you a side-by-side view of the OCR text and the digitized page image. Here is an example of poor OCR: <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n

\"Example
Example of OCR text (on the left) and the original image (on the right), from New York Clipper<\/em>, Jun 2, 1865, p. 2, col. D<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the right pane of the text correction module is the digitized image of the actual newspaper; on the left is the OCR text displayed in the text correction interface. The IDNC text correction module allows you to view the OCR text even if choose not to participate in text correction.<\/p>\n

In the above example, that first line of OCR text was the software’s attempt to render the title of the article, “THE RING”:<\/p>\n

~\\ t * i- ? jS 1 r- < JT * \u00a6 \u00a6 – < 7 t-s ,-v > . – _ _ THE BI ^ G .<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The article image on the right is difficult enough for a human to read, so you can imagine how tricky it is for computer software, which begins by trying to identify discrete shapes and match them with letters.<\/p>\n

Anyone can participate in text correction. See below for instructions on how to get started.<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Instructions for Correcting Text<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/h2>\n

Create an Account<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/h3>\n
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To begin correcting text, you must register as a user on the Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections website. Click “Register” in the upper right corner of the screen. A verification email will be sent to your email address. Once verified, you can login to the IDNC and begin correcting text.<\/p>\n