A first portion of data is selected. The first portion of data is capable
of being converted from a human-readable format to an electronically
readable format. The first portion of data is capable of being stored in
an optical bar code. A printed financial prospectus includes the first
portion of data in the human-readable format. The first portion of data
is stored on the optical bar code. The optical bar code is incorporated
into the printed financial prospectus. The first portion of data is read
from the optical bar code using a bar code scanner without removing the
optical bar code from the printed financial prospectus.