Abstract: A method for scanning and sorting documents which employs data not found on the document to make the sorting decision. Provision is also made for correcting misread information with the most probable correct data so that the scanning and sorting process may continue uninterrupted. In one form, the method comprises the steps of: (a) reading first data from a document by optical character recognition; (b) accessing second data which contains a list of valid first data; (c) determining if said data contains an error based on said second data; (d) accessing third data if said first data contains an error, said third data containing a probable correction of said first data; (e) changing said first data to equate with said third data; (f) retrieving fourth data from a data file based upon said first; (g) sorting said document based upon said fourth data.