<s>
Data	B-General_Concept
entry	I-General_Concept
is	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
digitizing	O
data	O
by	O
entering	O
it	O
into	O
a	O
computer	O
system	O
for	O
organization	O
and	O
management	O
purposes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
a	O
person-based	B-General_Concept
process	I-General_Concept
and	O
is	O
"	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
important	O
basic	O
"	O
tasks	O
needed	O
when	O
no	O
machine-readable	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
information	O
is	O
readily	O
available	O
for	O
planned	O
computer-based	O
analysis	O
or	O
processing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Common	O
errors	O
in	O
data	B-General_Concept
entry	I-General_Concept
include	O
transposition	O
errors	O
,	O
misclassified	O
data	O
,	O
duplicate	O
data	O
,	O
and	O
omitted	O
data	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
similar	O
to	O
bookkeeping	O
errors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	B-General_Concept
entry	I-General_Concept
is	O
often	O
done	O
with	O
a	O
keyboard	O
and	O
at	O
times	O
also	O
using	O
a	O
mouse	O
,	O
although	O
a	O
manually-fed	O
scanner	B-Application
may	O
be	O
involved	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	B-General_Concept
entry	I-General_Concept
using	O
keypunches	B-Device
was	O
related	O
to	O
the	O
concept	O
of	O
batch	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
–	O
there	O
was	O
no	O
immediate	O
feedback	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Computer	O
keyboards	O
and	O
online	O
data-entry	O
provide	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
give	O
feedback	O
to	O
the	O
data	B-General_Concept
entry	I-General_Concept
clerk	I-General_Concept
doing	O
the	O
work	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
addition	O
of	O
numeric	B-Device
keypads	I-Device
to	O
computer	O
keyboards	O
introduced	O
quicker	O
and	O
often	O
also	O
less	O
error-prone	O
entry	O
of	O
numeric	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
computer	B-Device
mouse	I-Device
,	O
typically	O
on	O
a	O
personal	O
computer	O
,	O
opened	O
up	O
another	O
option	O
for	O
doing	O
data	B-General_Concept
entry	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Touch	B-Device
screens	I-Device
introduced	O
even	O
more	O
options	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
stand	O
and	O
do	O
data	B-General_Concept
entry	I-General_Concept
,	O
especially	O
given	O
"	O
a	O
proper	O
height	O
of	O
work	O
surface	O
when	O
performing	O
data	O
entry.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
use	O
of	O
spreadsheets	O
instead	O
of	O
databases	O
for	O
data	B-General_Concept
entry	I-General_Concept
can	O
be	O
traced	O
to	O
the	O
1979	O
introduction	O
of	O
Visicalc	B-Application
,	O
and	O
what	O
some	O
consider	O
the	O
wrong	O
place	O
for	O
storing	O
computational	O
data	O
continues	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Format	O
control	O
and	O
specialized	O
data	O
validation	O
are	O
reasons	O
that	O
have	O
been	O
cited	O
for	O
using	O
database-oriented	O
data	B-General_Concept
entry	I-General_Concept
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
search	O
for	O
assurance	O
about	O
the	O
accuracy	O
of	O
the	O
data	B-General_Concept
entry	I-General_Concept
process	O
predates	O
computer	O
keyboards	O
and	O
online	O
data	B-General_Concept
entry	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
one	O
study	O
,	O
a	O
medical	O
school	O
tested	O
its	O
second	O
year	O
students	O
and	O
found	O
their	O
data	B-General_Concept
entry	I-General_Concept
skills	O
–	O
needed	O
if	O
they	O
are	O
to	O
do	O
small-scale	O
unfunded	O
research	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
their	O
training	O
–	O
were	O
below	O
what	O
the	O
school	O
considered	O
acceptable	O
,	O
creating	O
potential	O
barriers	O
.	O
</s>
