An optically readable record for storing encoded information comprises (1) a recording medium, (2) a self-clocking data code for encoding the information, with this data code being composed of glyphs that are written in a bounded two dimensional code field on the recording medium on centers that are spatially distributed in nominal accordance with a predetermined spatial formatting rule, and the glyphs being defined by respective symbols that are selected from a finite set of optically discriminable symbols to encode the information, and (3) a self-clocking address pattern written on the recording medium to extend across the code field along at least one axis, with this address pattern being composed of a unique glyph pattern that disambiguates spatial position within the address pattern to a subpattern precision.