When court reporters take down testimony on a steno machine, one of the parties may ask to have it transcribed into a booklet. This booklet is a certified verbatim transcript of what everyone said on the record during the proceeding.
Most court reporters use steno machines to take down what people say. Each syllable is typed as a phonetic keystroke. Later, if a transcription is ordered, the court reporter, also called a stenographer or recorder, will use a computer program to translate the notes into words and sentences. Not all phonetic sounds translate into regular English words right off the bat. Running the software program is often called "tranning," short for translating.
The program has a dictionary. While many basic words are included, not every word in the language is in it. Many medical, legal or technical terms must be entered over time by the court reporter in order for the software to properly translate as many keystrokes as possible. Otherwise, the stenographer must go through and do it by hand while preparing a transcript for a client. Since they are well-versed in steno, this is not difficult, just time consuming.
There are specialized programs for highly skilled court reporters that allow them to type and have an instant translation come up on a special screen connected to a laptop computer. This is called real-time. While synonyms and sound-alikes may dance on the screen, it usually makes enough sense for someone watching to understand it. For example, if some says, "We went there on Sunday," it might translate as, "We when their on son day." This would need to be adjusted by the reporter at a later time.
After the initial tranning stage, the transcript must be edited. All of the sound-alikes, synonyms and names must be changed to their proper spellings. The next step is to proofread it for typos, capitalization and punctuation. Some stenographers read their transcripts two times; others four. It depends on the typing and proofreading skill level of the recorder how long this takes.
When the transcription is complete, different information must be added to the transcript, such as a title page, appearance page and certificate page before it is given to the client. This tells the reader the name and date of the proceeding, who was present, what the court jurisdiction is and that the witness was placed under oath. The court reporter certifies that the transcript is a true production of what was taken down in stenotype and produced by computer under their direction. They also certify that they are a neutral third party, so the work produced is not slanted to benefit one party over the other.
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