The history of court reporting goes much far than one might think of, however, let’s take a brief look at the evolution of shorthand reporting:
The History Of Stenography
Stenography is also known as “Short Hand,” which was initially invented in 63 B.C. The history of the technological advancements in the world of court reporting started with the beginning of writing itself. In the prehistoric era, the Sumerians evolved a system of writing called cuneiform, which is Latin for “wedge.” It’s a form of writing that utilizes pictographs that were made in clay by a wedge-shaped stylus. Originally, it was referred to as a “lentil” tablet.
Cuneiform continued as a writing style in the 3500-3000 B.C.E region until some time after 100 B.C.E; it started handling phonograms in its maturation.
Later on, there were two systems, known as running script and cursive, were introduced to expedite the recordings of confessions. From these records, more official transcripts were made for proper use in the imperial court. Unique characters were written down in a more abbreviated form without the calligrapher ever lifting the brush. Following, the standard script grew out of the earlier records, allowing for more poise and ease.
The development of Western forms of shorthand began with Romans and Cicero. A senator for the Roman Republic had his slave named Marcus Tullis Tiro, who acted as his personal secretary. At Cicero’s request, Tiro became the first shorthand, which at that time was known as “Tironian Notes.” This system used abbreviated Latin letters, Greek symbols, and various other signs and symbols crafted by Tiro himself. Soon Roman senators learned Cicero’s advantage and had their scribes adopt the system. As a result, it expanded and was later systemized to around 5000 various marks to make Tironian Notes. Further, monks also used it in the middle ages, who renewed the system after a long time of shorthand related to witchcraft and magic.
A few hundred years later, to the 17th century, many innovators invented a bunch of systems of shorthand and manuals, including John Willis, Willan Mason, Thomas Shelton, and Jeremiah Rich. One of the few prominent methods came out later in the 18th century by Samuel Taylor, whose work inspired Sir Issac Pitman to enhance the art form by merging the recording of sounds as symbols in his own systems.
The collection of signs and symbols apprehended consonants, vowels and double consonants. Users could also discern similar sounds through the same signs and reduce the number of strokes needed through intelligent shading use. Ben Pitman (Sir Issac’s brother) very minorly modified this system when he established it in America. As the symbols were converted into letters, it was very easy for them to be adopted by a wide range of languages around the world.
Technology in Courtroom
After 40 years, Miles Bartholomew made the first machine used for shorthand and later, after 30 years, in 1906, an American court reporter named Ward Stone Ireland made the first commercial stenotype machine.
The modern keyboard that court reporters or stenographers use today has been influenced by this groundbreaking machine’s design. The machines have been grown through unique designs, keyboard layouts and other innovations such as modern connections, tape recorders and LCD screens that have been experimented with in the recent boom of technological advancement.
In the 21st century, two recent inventions consist of online document repositories and real-time reporting in the court reporting firms. The latest system has enabled faster turnaround for and easy availability of highly accurate transcripts. Such a latest technological renaissance is just the tip of the iceberg. We can only wonder what the next 5, 10, or next 100 years will bring, yet we can be sure that the need to record human ideas and the spoken human words will never be rendered antiquated for the certified court reporter.
Concluding,
With national court reporters evolving significantly over time, the skilled court reporters haven’t changed one thing that hasn’t changed. If you are looking for Atlanta court reporters certified who are committed to your needs, reach out to Georgia Reporting.