Beth's Proofing/Scoping Page
Beth's Proofing/Scoping Page
Welcome to my site. My name is Beth, and I'm a
proofreader and scopist for court reporters - a job that I thoroughly enjoy. (Please note: I do not scope and then proofread the same job. I do either one or the other, but never both. The job needs two separate sets of eyes on it for it to be created as clean as it can be.)
I decided to create this site so that you - the searcher - can learn a
little more about my profession.
I've been working with and for court reporters for over 30 years now. I
started out as a typist working for my dad (who is a fantastic court
reporter) back in the days when court reporters still dictated all of
their jobs and the typist had to type them out. There were/are a lot of
good typists out there who also were "note readers," but I never
learned at that time to be quite so proficient reading notes of court
reporters to eliminate the middle process of dictation.
With the advent of the computer age, court reporting became much simpler
for producing transcripts. Their machines became computerized and
sophisticated programs were written that could take those strange
combinations of letters and "translate" them into English - hopefully
making the transcript read as close to the actual testimony as possible.
Once I learned how to "read" the steno from the translation into
English, I was off and running into the computer age myself. I began
working for a court reporting firm in Wichita, Kansas, as a "scopist," a
person who takes the raw transcript before it's been read through the
first time and trying to make sense of it - putting in the little words
that all reporters are likely to drop from time to time (like "the,"
"it," and "a") when the going gets fast, adding punctuation, and
checking for spellings. A good scopist/proofreader must have an excellent
command of spelling and punctuation.
Although I used to have PremierPower and CaseCatalyst 3 keys, I now only
use CaseCat4 and above. I no longer have a computer old enough (or
actually slow enough) to be able to use the older editing systems. If
you're still using them, I highly suggest that you switch to the newest
version of CaseCase. You'll never regret it!!! {smile} Although I do
have RTF capabilities, I no longer do proofreading for reporters on
other systems because it is just not cost efficient for me to do so. If
you're on the system that I am on, you just send me the English (SGNGL)
file so I can put the corrections directly into the job (with scan
marks) so all you have to do is scan to them to make the change rather
than having to use an errata sheet. Much quicker for me - and much more
efficient for you. But please be assured that I read each job very
carefully.
PLEASE NOTE: I am adding the next few paragraphs because I have gotten so many requests about proofreading for this that I am now adding the following to my page. The portion about audio does not apply to jobs that I am scoping, as I am a scopist AND a proofreader (as I mentioned in the first line up above. [smile] And I do not do both on the same job.):
I do NOT accept ASCII files. I do NOT proofread from hard copy. I do NOT listen to audio to proofread (this does not apply to scoping). I do NOT use Morson's as a guide.
Now for a short explanation for each of those "do nots."
ASCII: As stated above, I only work for reporters who are on the same system as I am; therefore, there is no need for ASCII since you will be sending me the SGNGL file.I'm meticulous about my work, because my work is how I make my living. My work stands for itself, and I stand behind what I do.
Hard Copy: My proofreading is efficient enough that I do not have to print it out. I read much more carefully from the screen than I do from hard copy; although I realize that many proofreaders do not. I am, however, one of the exceptions to that "rule."
Audio: The job that is to be proofread, once it reaches my computer, should have already been scoped with audio, if that's what the reporter uses, and it should be in as final a form as it's going to get and all it needs now is ferreting out the odd misspelled word or punctuation that might have been missed along the way. Using audio is the scopist's job, not the proofreader's. If I have to use audio, the cost goes way up because it takes too long. (Please note: I am also a scopist, so this paragraph does not apply if I am scoping the job rather than proofreading.)
Morson's: I, as of this writing (2012), am 58 years old and I went to school when they taught us all the grammar rules and I have retained those all these years. That's why I'm in the business I'm in. I do not need a book to tell me where to put a comma or a semicolon. I'm an old dog with many tricks in my book and I don't need something to try to teach me something that more than likely I already know.
As I am a Seventh-day Adventist, the one period of the week I absolutely do not work is sundown Fridays through sundown Saturdays. That is my family and church time, and I will not make exceptions on this one point. But I like to let people know up front so there are no surprises.