Mark Sense

Mark sense was a trade name used by IBM for electrographic forms and systems. It has since come to be used as a generic term for any technology allowing marks made using ordinary writing implements to be processed, encompassing both optical mark recognition and electrographic technology, because the user of a mark-sense form cannot generally tell if the marks are sensed electrically or optically. The term mark sense is not generally used when referring to technology that distinguishes the shape of the mark; the general term optical character recognition is generally used when mark shapes are distinguished. Because the term mark-sense was originally a trade name, the Federal Government generally used the term electrographic.

In the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, mark sense technology was widely used for applications like recording meter readings and recording long distance telephone calls. Many thousands of pencils were made expressly for mark sense applications by the Dur-O-Lite Pencil Company and by the Autopoint Company. Many of the pencils made for the "Bell System" were stamped "MARK SENSE LEAD" and for the Federal Government, "US Government Electrographic."

Reynold Johnson was a teacher who set out to develop an automatic test scoring machine. The result of this work was the IBM 805 Test Scoring Machine. IBM hired Johnson as an engineer, and he went on to develop a range of electrographic mark-sense machinery. The first large-scale use of the IBM 805 was by the American Council on Education's Cooperative Test Service in 1936; In 1947, the Cooperative Test Service became part of the Educational Testing Service.

Various IBM equipment could be used with mark sense cards including the IBM 513 and IBM 514 Reproducing Punches, the IBM 557 Alphabetic Interpreter, and the IBM 519 Electric Document Originating Machine.