OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is a feature of text documents that allows the visible text to be turned into searchable data and/or parsed by screen readers. This allows a user to use the search function on a PDF (control + F) to search for specific terms in the document. The transmission of a file via ILLiad/Odyssey does not affect OCR within a document. However, other circumstances may affect whether or not a specific document supports OCR.
OCR Compatibility
The transmission of a file via ILLiad does not itself do anything to OCR within a document. It is also important to note that how the Lending institution generates the file is equally important as the behavior of the Borrowing library. The following chart shows a breakdown of possible processing methods and their effect on OCR compatibility:
| OCR Works? | Processing Method |
|---|---|
| No | Lending library scans the document via ILLiad, then send a TIFF via Odyssey or Article Exchange |
| No | Lending library scans the document via ILLiad, exports the file and re-imports into ILLiad as a PDF, then sends PDF via Odyssey or Article Exchange |
| Yes | Borrowing library adds a cover sheet that is OCR compatible to the received OCR PDF document. |
| Yes | Lending library imports a native PDF file, sends via Odyssey or Article Exchange, and the Borrowing library does not add a cover sheet |
In summary:
-
If the file was ever a TIFF, or if the Borrowing library appended a cover sheet to the PDF - OCR will not be functional; Unless the cover sheet was OCR compatible and the OCR was not lost after the PDF file and the OCR cover sheet was merged- OCR will be functional
-
If the file was a native PDF and sent via Odyssey or Article Exchange and no cover sheet was added - OCR will be functional
TIFF documents, due to how text compression occurs, do not support OCR.