I saw what looked
like a very automated and very modern process for taking in census information.
Is that something new?
Yes, that's quite new. The Census Bureau has innovated technologically before. In fact, a Census Bureau employee was the first person to design what became the computer card -- the old key- punched card used back in the 1890's. He then went off to found his own business, and in 1922, he merged with another business. From this merger, IBM was born. We were the first agency to use UNIVAC, the big mainframe computer used in 1950's census. We also innovated a little later, in the 1970s, with what we call FOSTIC. And, do you remember those sheets where you filled in the little circles? Well, that was a Census Bureau innovation, too.
Now, what we're doing is called intelligent character recognition. This allows us to design a "user-friendlier" questionnaire. You'll get one in the mail, and it will ask you how old you are. You'll write "47" instead of having to fill in a little circle "4" and a little circle "7". It makes the questionnaire less intimidating and much more efficient.
Another innovation is how we will disseminate data. We're certainly going to use the Internet. We have a new site called the American Fact Finder, and it will help us get data out to the entire world instantly.
For more information on Census 2000, visit the Census Bureau's Internet site.
4/3/00
