Constructing 'Computer-Compatible' Stenographers: The Transition to Real-Time Transcription in Courtroom Reporting

摘要

In 1935, Walter W. Heironimus was working on the cutting edge of his field as an official stenographer for the U.S. District Court system in New Jersey. Like his fellow court reporters, he turned the spoken words of judges, lawyers, and witnesses into official transcripts of trials, recording testimony in a carefully constructed phonetic code of "stenoforms" in real time, then often (but not always) later reconstructing the resulting "stenonotes" into typewritten text when needed for an appeal. But rather than scribbling stenoforms using pen and paper, as did most of his peers, Heironimus used a relatively new mechanical technology known as the "stenotype": a compact keyboard allowing a stenographer not only to keep pace with a faster rate of speech, but rendering stenonotes in a form so readable that he could subcontract out to an assistant, or "note reader," the tedious work of reconstructing the English narrative. Learning to write "manual" shorthand at a rate rapid enough for courtroom use had taken eight years of training to master (far more than the time and skill required for office stenographers who only took down the occasional business memo). However, Heironimus mastered "machine" writing after only two years of training in his spare time.