Log Note System For Digitally Recorded Audio

Abstract

A system which is primarily of use for lawyers, judges, and electronic court reporters operates to correlate personal log notes with digitally recorded audio proceedings, such as courtroom proceedings. The notes may be made in conjunction with the computer actually recording the courtroom proceedings; or they may be made on personal computers separate from the computer recording the court proceedings. Identification of the proceedings is made on both the digitally recorded proceedings, as well as on the log notes; so that they are correlated. Each time a note is entered, the time at which the note• is entered is placed as a time stamp in conjunction with the note. When the log notes are synchronized with the recorded court proceedings (either at the time the proceedings begin, or at any subsequent time), reference subsequently to that note time stamp allows direct immediate access to the same running time on the court proceedings, for subsequent review of either the recorded audio or a transcription made of that audio carrying the same time references.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]The present application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11 / 223,342, filed Sep. 9, 2005, entitled “LOG NOTE SYSTEM FOR DIGITALLY RECORDED AUDIO”, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09 / 809,869, filed Mar. 16, 2001, entitled “LOG NOTE SYSTEM FOR DIGITALLY RECORDED AUDIO”, the contents of both of which are incorporated herein by this reference and are not admitted to be prior art with respect to the present invention by the mention in this cross-reference section.BACKGROUND[0002]The present invention relates to a system for correlating log notes entered on a computer by persons during or subsequent to the recording of transcripts of proceedings. Specifically, the system correlates the notes to a recorded audio transcript to enable rapid and accurate access to specific portions of the transcript identified by the notes.[0003]In conjunction with court proceedings and administrative hearings, it has been customary to provid...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

Enables rapid and accurate access to specific portions of audio recordings by linking notes with timestamps, reducing the need for manual searching and minimizing errors associated with tape counter inaccuracies.

Problems solved by technology

In the past, it was necessary for the judge or the lawyers to correlate those notes with the subsequently produced transcript, requiring a relatively laborious manual search through the transcript to find the desired portions to which the notes were directed.

Such correlation of notes with the transcript, again, was relatively time consuming and, particularly with respect to magnetic tape recordings, somewhat frustrating.

Such tape counters are notoriously unreliable; so that even if a position were found through an initial correlation with a note, subsequent reliance on the counter to find that same position on a magnetic tape often resulted in a misalignment, which required further adjustment in order to hear the desired portion.

The system, however, does not include a way for other persons to correlate notes with the record.

Notes from attorneys for one side, however, are not available to attorneys for the other side, unless specific procedural implementations agreed to by both sides are effected, when specific communication by way of the terminals is desired.

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