BECOME A MEMBERTHE PURPOSE OF REALTIME WRITING
It is important to remember the purpose for which realtime is used in a courtroom or any other setting. It enables the viewer to see and/or mark immediately what was said; to scan back simultaneously to crosscheck against previous testimony (whether given on the same day or previously), and probably most importantly, to have instantly a full note of what was said and the context in which it was said, rather than scanty notes made by a judge, barrister or solicitor. There are several litigation support softwares which enable this to be achieved by the other parties in the hearing room who are linked to the realtime reporter's computer.SKILLS REQUIRED
Writing realtime on the shorthand machine is akin to a concert grand pianist, one who has achieved the pinnacle of their profession. All BIVR members are qualified to take an extremely good and full note, but the realtime reporter must render text which is as full and readable as possible. Dropping text, even though marked for checking against a document being read, or a back-up audio recording later, does not help a realtime user, and conflicts or untranslated steno outlines are confusing to the eye even if they are correctly input, so the realtime reporter has both trained and passed their examinations at a very high standard to achieve such fast and accurate input. To aid the realtime reporter in his/her task the party booking the reporter should supply a full set of documents before the hearing/meeting to enable the reporter to put unique or unusual words or names into his/her job dictionary. It is also essential to supply beforehand a list of dramatis personae - also known as the runners and riders - accurately spelled - for the realtime reporter to include in their job dictionary.
CONSIDERATION
The concentration needed to take a verbatim note at all, let alone on a realtime basis, is immense. Therefore, all parties involved in the hearing/meeting need to be aware that the skilled realtime reporter may need a break after an hour or so of taking notes, even of just 10 minutes, to stand up, stretch and possibly even get some fresh air, to be ready for the next session. Around the world:
Wayne County in the USA goes realtime - click here
Oregon - click here