What is data capture?

Data capture is the collection of data from the real world for input to a computer system. 

Data capture can be divided into either human or automatic methods. Human methods are avoided if possible because they are... 

- Slow

- Prone to error

But, sometimes human methods can't be avoided. For example, data has to be manually keyed in when...

- Data is provided on a paper form

- Observations are made

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_identification_and_data_capture

http://www.processflows.co.uk/technology/data-capture/methods-of-data-capture/

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/data-capture.html