10+ years ago, Ancestry.com hired people in Asia to transcribe U.S. census returns and vital records. They also used volunteers: http://blogs.ancestry.com/circl

10+ years ago, Ancestry.com hired people in Asia to transcribe U.S. census returns and vital records. They also used volunteers: http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=2321 http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=2321 Not sure how it's done now, but I suspect it's very hard to automate owing to inconsistent handwriting styles, unusual names for people and places, footnotes and abbreviations, etc.