The need to preserve the written word has existed throughout history dating back as far as the Sumerian civilization which was located in the Mesopotamia region of the middle east. The Sumerian civilization existed roughly between the time frame of 4000-2000 B.C. and Sumerians are generally viewed as the first civilized race of homo sapiens. Through archaeological finds, the Sumerians demonstrate their development of advances in architecture, the development of a central government, language and yes, even the written word. Their form of writing is known as cuneiform and used a system of drawings and figures more so than an established alphabet as we would recognize it today Alabama Court Reporting. The first known examples of what could be considered takes form in symbols and figures scratched into the clay.

The Western worldís development of stenography or shorthand was developed by the Roman Empire by a statesman named Cicero, who was a Senator, lawyer, philosopher and wealthy landowner who was assassinated in the year 63B.C. His system known as Tironian notes, because Ciceroís slave Marcus Tullius Tiro developed the lettering system, was well accepted by Ciceroís piers and gained widespread acceptance throughout the Roman senate because the other senators realized what a huge advantage it offered. Ciceroís system was comprised of approximately 5000 symbols and marks based largely on Greek symbols, Latin letters and other shapes and figures. His system eventually gained widespread acceptance among the early church as a method to preserve the spoken words of its leaders. As we pass the Dark Ages and move into the Renaissance Age we find several attempts to improve the method for recording the spoken words where needed Alabama Court Reporting. During the 17th century, the attention was more toward systems of shorthand, wherein a machine or device wasnít necessarily employed, but more improvements were made in the area of written shorthand. This method required an experienced person to write with pen and paper a series of symbols and strokes which captured sounds instead of letters to produce its own dialogue.

As we moved forward throughout manís history, and as our governments and courts became more sophisticated the need to maintain accurate records of the proceedings became more important and necessary. And as the old saying goes that ìnecessity is the mother of invention,î man once again stepped up and through his recognition of the need began to develop the proper tools to encompass the ability to record the spoken word through simpler means. Thus, the stenograph came into being. In 1877 Miles Bartholomew of Belleville, Illinois submitted an application for a patent on what is considered to be the first stenograph machine. His machine consisted of two sets of keys, five on each side, one for each finger and each thumb Alabama Court Reporting. The machine did not have a full set of numbers or alphabet but instead relied on a combination of strokes to produce words.

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Through a rather complex system of letters and strokes an accomplished court reporter could now ìtake downî the entire contents of an important board meeting or Alabama Court Reporting or government hearing or whatever the situation may be wherein the contents of that meeting needed to be preserved and made available. Today this system has become the standard means of recording the deposition of a witness in any legal matter or an entire court proceeding. The person who records these proceedings through the use of a stenograph is known as a court reporter or stenographer. Many court reporters work with court reporting firms, such as Eagle Court Reporting, an Alabama court reporting firm, which serve in an administrative roll to facilitate scheduling, assignments and production. Eagle Court Reporting works with affiliates across the entire United States to provide a network of court reporters to provide court reporting services to clients wherever the need may be.

Court reporters have many varied duties in their line of work. These include attending depositions, hearings, proceedings and other events that require written transcripts. They capture spoken dialogue by means of their stenograph, and also work hand in hand with videographers when a client wishes to identify the appearance, gestures, attitudes and actions of the person speaking. The court reporter may be asked to read back a portion of the testimony by the attorney or upon a request by the judge. This may be done when there is a question about prior testimony. The court reporter will furnish copies of transcripts and recordings to the court and all parties involved in the litigation process. In addition to court and legal related proceedings, certified court reporters also provide CART services, which is an acronym for computer-assisted real-time. This service uses the same stenograph equipment, but CART providers work primarily for deaf and hard of hearing clientele. Eagle Court Reporting offers CART reporters when requested by its clients. This service is not normally requested for standard depositions or court hearings, but more for broadcast feeds for the hearing impaired Alabama Court Reporting.

Normally speaking, a CART providerís transcript will be one hundred percent verbatim, just as a court reporterís transcript. The difference being that a court reporter scopes or reviews their work prior to it being produced, whereas a CART reporter doesnít have the luxury of editing their work before it is viewed by the end user. The National Court Reporters Association offers membership and certification to CART providers as they do to court reporters. Court reporters with the CART designation are available through Eagle Court Reporting. Broadcast captioners are court reporters who provide captions for the television programs Alabama Court Reporting. This service offered when offered is called closed captioning. The reporter will transcribe the dialogue of the television program onto the screen normally in live time. In some cases where circumstances allow, the captioning will actually be done during postproduction of the program. In either case the end product is aimed at assisting the deaf or hard of hearing customer to benefit from and have a full understanding of the program as it is being broadcast. In many instances closed captioning will be used in public setting, such as airports where it isnít feasible to produce the audio portion of programs.