Adapting a technology that’s seen increased relevance during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Butner-Creedmoor News is using QR codes to share online exclusives with its readers.

The modified barcodes that look like inkblots or crossword puzzle grids now appear with select stories to promote additional text, photo galleries and videos available on ButnerCreedmoorNews.com and to direct readers to content available exclusively online.

Smartphones and tablets read QR codes through their built-in digital cameras. To scan a code, open the camera app on your mobile device, point the lens at the QR code and wait for a pop-up that will open your web browser and display the linked page. Subscribers whose usernames and passwords aren’t saved in their mobile browsers will need to log in once the page is displayed.

The codes serve as a bridge between the newspaper’s print and online editions, helping readers find multimedia content and online extras with the ease of snapping a cellphone photo.

Masahiro Hara invented the quick response code in 1994 as an inventory management tool for logistics company Denso Wave. The two-dimensional images can store more information than the Universal Product Code symbols known as barcodes that are commonly seen in supermarkets and stores.

Package delivery services like UPS have long used QR codes for delivery tracking, with employees scanning each parcel upon arrival at processing and distribution locations.

More recently, restaurants have used the codes to direct customers to online menus and contactless payment systems as a way to reduce the sharing of paper menus and reliance on hand-to-hand transactions in order to limit the spread of germs during the pandemic.

In December, Hara told British newspaper The Guardian that he’s proud to see his invention used to promote safety and he anticipates QR codes could be more widely used in health care, such as a means to provide patients with convenient access to medical records.

USA Today began using QR codes on each section front of its print edition in 2012. Various other newspapers have experimented with the barcodes, and they could become a fixture as local news outlets continue to expand their digital offerings.

This QR code contains a hyperlink to the ButnerCreedmoorNews.com homepage. Butner-Creedmoor News graphic via Flowcode