CRI Court Reporting Technology 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary function of a scopist in the court reporting workflow?
- Operate the stenographic machine during proceedings
- Edit and proofread the rough draft transcript using CAT software (Correct answer)
- Manage the court reporter's scheduling and billing
- Certify transcripts for official court use
Correct answer: Edit and proofread the rough draft transcript using CAT software
A scopist uses CAT software to edit the rough draft, correcting untranslated steno and formatting errors before the reporter does a final review.
Question 2: Which file format is the standard interchange format used to exchange transcripts between different CAT software programs?
- DOCX
- ASCII (Correct answer)
- RTF
Correct answer: ASCII
ASCII (plain text) is the universal interchange format that allows transcripts to be transferred between incompatible CAT software systems.
Question 3: In CAT software, what does the term 'untranslate' refer to?
- A steno outline that the software cannot find in the dictionary and displays as raw steno (Correct answer)
- A transcript that has been sent back for corrections
- A phonetic spelling used when a proper noun is unknown
- An audio file that failed to synchronize with the transcript
Correct answer: A steno outline that the software cannot find in the dictionary and displays as raw steno
An untranslate is a steno stroke or combination that has no matching entry in the reporter's dictionary, appearing as raw steno in the rough draft.
Question 4: Which technology allows attorneys to instantly search and retrieve specific testimony within a realtime transcript during a deposition?
- LiveNote or similar real-time streaming software (Correct answer)
- Optical character recognition (OCR)
- Court Management System (CMS)
- E-transcript bundling software
Correct answer: LiveNote or similar real-time streaming software
LiveNote and similar real-time streaming platforms deliver the transcript to connected laptops as it is written, allowing instant text searching.
Question 5: What is the purpose of a 'dictionary conflict' in CAT software?
- When two reporters share incompatible steno theories
- When the same steno outline is mapped to two different translations (Correct answer)
- When audio sync and text are more than 2 seconds apart
- When a brief form overrides a word boundary setting
Correct answer: When the same steno outline is mapped to two different translations
A dictionary conflict occurs when a single steno outline has multiple entries in the dictionary, causing the software to be unable to determine the correct translation.
Question 6: In digital court reporting, what is the role of a Digital Court Reporter (DCR) that differs from a stenographic reporter?
- The DCR writes steno but also manages courtroom technology
- The DCR uses audio/video recording equipment rather than a stenographic machine to capture proceedings (Correct answer)
- The DCR only transcribes pre-recorded audio, never attending live proceedings
- The DCR produces a video deposition rather than a written transcript
Correct answer: The DCR uses audio/video recording equipment rather than a stenographic machine to capture proceedings
A Digital Court Reporter captures proceedings using multi-channel audio or video recording equipment and later produces a verbatim transcript from the recording.
Question 7: Which feature of modern CAT software allows the reporter to define how steno strokes are automatically combined or split during translation?
- Conflict resolution tables
- Job dictionary overrides
- Stroke boundary settings or word boundary rules (Correct answer)
- Realtime feed filtering
Correct answer: Stroke boundary settings or word boundary rules
Stroke boundary or word boundary settings determine how the CAT software joins or separates steno outlines when translating them into words.
CRI Court Reporting Technology 2
What is the primary function of a scopist in the court reporting workflow?