Abstract. This paper describes techniques for searching in handwritten and handdrawn documents. We assume that more and more handwritten documents will accrue, as pen-based computers like PDA or TabletPC get increasingly popular. In order to manage the anticipated amount of handwritten documents, powerful abilities for searching within the documents are needed. The techniques, which we propose, are well researched in the field of bioinformatics, where they are used for finding parts within sequences of amino acids or genes. This paper documents a work in progress research activity. 