Scoping Expectations

When a court reporter begins working with a scopist, it's good to know what each person can expect from the other.

Let's address some of those concerns here.

Court Reporter Expectations

Court reporters expect for a scopist to know how to quickly and efficiently edit their transcript according to the formatting preferences provided for the scopist.

Here is a link to our graduated scopists' page. Each of the scopists on this page has been tested to have mastered all of the skills below.

To help the scopist do their job, the scopist will want to receive the following:
A recently completely edited CAT file that is formatted according to your preferences from which the scopist can quickly pull your formatting preferences from. Although a preference form can also be sent, this file sample will help answer the majority of the scopist's questions.
Sending your include or block files
The scopist always appreciates receiving block or include files which contain various formatting sections used within the transcript according to the manner in which the reporter wants them done.

Professional conduct and mutual respect are key in this relationship.

They want a scopist who will provide the following services without question:

Communication
Transcript Formatting Knowledge
Grammar and Punctuation Knowledge
Looking up words for correct spelling and usage when necessary
Check for discrepancies within the transcript
Strive for consistency
Contact the reporter when a problem arises
Return the edited file in a timely manner
Flag things that need to be checked by the reporter
Has the ability to contextually read without audio
Has the ability to edit with audio in a verbatim fashion
Can read stenographic notes and enter into the CAT dictionary

This list with explanations

Communicate with the reporter after receiving and restoring the work and on a regular basis regarding the status of the job. If something in the scopist's schedule changes in the process, the scopist should communicate that immediately to the reporter.

Have a solid knowledge of the formatting of a transcript and to insert any missing parts when needed.

The scopist should have a solid knowledge of grammar and punctuation rules along with the reporter's personal formatting preferences.

The scopist will research proper nouns for accuracy in spelling and/or formatting.

Will look up words and run spell check before returning the job.

Resolve as many untranslates or mistranslates as possible. Ideally there should be zero untranslates in a completely edited file unless there are audio issues.
Use flags or communication within the transcript regarding questionable areas for the reporter to double-check upon receipt.
Has the ability to read stenographic notes in order to add those strokes to the appropriate CAT dictionary.

The editing of the scopist should catch the majority of the errors found in the transcript but is not expected to catch all of them because a proofreader will be the final step in the editing process.

It is best to have a proofreader available after the scoping work is completed in order to have two sets of eyes on the document.

Scopist Expectations

Scopists are very accustomed to seeing transcripts that typically need 5 to 30 percent clean up. So if you are a court reporter looking to use a scopist for the first time, don't worry. We are here to help you.
Oftentimes, a scopist can add or build your dictionary so that your translation rate increases. We know that anytime we can increase the translation rate, we will decrease our workload.
Professional conduct and mutual respect are key in this relationship.

The scopist expects to find a few untranslates and mistranslates while scoping the file but would prefer those are kept to a minimum. Since we all have good days and some bad days, those numbers may vary from time to time.
Typically, our scopists know to download and restore the court reporter's file right away and to communicate with the reporter that everything is in working order and ready to be edited to give the court reporter peace of mind that that file is in capable hands.

Ways to make a scopist's job easier:
Receiving Word Lists
The scopist would prefer to receive a word or name list containing the correct spelling of proper nouns. When that information is not receive, a scopist may put together their own word list to send with the completed transcript so the reporter can quickly do a "find and replace" or global the name throughout the transcript.

Receiving include or block files
Research and looking up word formatting are part of the scopist's job. And most scopists know that although a term that is difficult to ascertain at one part of the transcript can likely be found later used or clarified within the transcript. Because of advent of the Internet, that research time can be kept at a minimum.

Knowledge and application of correct transcript formatting, grammar and punctuation usage along with other technical formatting should all be skills that a scopist should have before scoping.
Knowing how to utilize the CAT program for efficiency purposes will always decrease the amount of work time needed by the scopist.

Knowledge of audio accuracy
Having the ability to know how to listen for trail offs, quiet interjections and false starts.

Communication within the transcript
Inserting flags or communication within the CAT program is necessary for any troublesome areas for the reporter or proofreader to double-check before final production of the document is also a skill the scopist needs to know how to use. And the scopist needs to be able to view that communication coming from the reporter within the transcript.
A courtesy that we teach our scopists is to leave the cursor at the beginning reading point for the next reader as opposed to the end of the transcript where they left off before returning the file to the reporter.

Although scopists are cleaning up the "meat" of the errors within a transcript, they oftentimes try to leave the transcript in a near-perfect state. That is all dependent upon the court reporter's writing skills.