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Shorthand paper is used in stenotype transcription machines to quickly type out spoken words. The paper is narrow and perforated, and notes are usually translated into understandable transcripts. Stenomask machines also use shorthand paper, but digital files are now more common. Steno books are not associated with shorthand and are popular with journalists.
Shorthand paper is paper specially designed to fit and feed through stenotype transcription machines. When stenographers are transcribing court, medical, or other proceedings, they use transcription machines to quickly type out every word spoken. It is usually too difficult to type words and complete sentences as they are spoken, and stenographers explain this using professional shorthand. Transcription machines often have text display screens, but will periodically print the contents of those screens onto shorthand paper stored in the machine chambers underneath. The stenographer or stenotype reporter can usually recall statements just made by reading transcription machine printouts.
Most of the time, transcription machines can be fine tuned to the short hand specifications of a particular stenographer. However, the notes that are printed usually record the exact beats, not the meaning behind those beats. Printouts are used to translate the stenographer’s notes into an understandable transcription of the proceedings. In legal proceedings, the original shorthand paper is typically entered into the court record in its original form.
Shorthand paper is also used in stenomask machines, a common alternative to the transcription machine. A stenographer allows a stenographer to orally deliver unspoken dialogue and events into a soundproof mask attached to a machine. That machine, using speech recognition technology, creates a transcript of what was said. In some cases, that transcript is also printed on shorthand paper.
Because shorthand paper is used to record words, letters, and fragments of codified sentences, it is typically narrow, usually at most 6 inches (about 15 cm) wide. The sheets are connected to each other with perforation. When the transcription machine makes its recording, it does so on a seemingly endless stream of paper which is only subsequently peeled off into individual sheets.
The technical elements of court transcription and other stenographers’ work have slowly changed as technology has advanced. Today, a stenographer is more likely to have a transcription or stenomask machine that records and stores digital files than a machine with paper output. Digital files contain the same data as notes printed on shorthand paper, but are stored on flash drives or internal hard drives and uploaded to websites, not printed directly from the machine.
Several academic and professional stationery companies sell a product known as a steno book or steno pad. These products are usually spiral bound and divided down the center of the page into two columns. In this way, notes can be annotated in one or both columns to mimic short notes transcribed by stenographers. However, these products are not usually associated with shorthand and are not known to be used by stenographers for any professional purpose. Steno blocks are most popular with journalists, who often use shorthand when hand-taking speeches or conducting interviews.
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