Shorthand World

Now that is how it's done

noreply@blogger.com (The Editor) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 11:48:00 +0000

My attention was drawn to this video by the MSN Gregg Shorthand group. It's of Michael Lista effortlessly streaming across a page at 120wpm using Gregg.

Excellent camera positioning makes his work really clear, and the audio is pretty clear too so you can actually understand his notetaking.

More vids like on the web will make the world a happier place!

Michael said in a message to the group:

"For some reason my hand is just walking really well today. I've usually stuck with liquid inks for writing shorthand, but theres something about ballpoints.
"Maybe the extra friction of the pigment-based ink helps to control your hand movements and you don't 'spin out of control' as much. Also I finally used the 2 column steno pad layout which I really think made a difference."

Anyway, here's the link.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ksjgdvZyi9M

Videos of Shorthand

noreply@blogger.com (The Editor) — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 22:53:00 +0000

After writing my last post I got thinking about other shorthand-related videos that might be out there on the WWW.

So, I searched for "shorthand" on YouTube and awaited the results. I'm not entirely sure it was such a great idea.

One of the top results is a slightly bizarre nine-minute advert for Edison shorthand machines. Basically the plot is this - chaos in the office, Edison machine aquired, everybody happy (and as the ad tells you, it's not even 5pm!).

Then there's a shorthand class, the camera work is somewhat fuzzy, dictation material is read out and then read back...

The clearest videos I came across was a lady reading back her (very neat) notes to camera, and some rather nice note-taking from Portuguese dictation (like the use of the pencil, not sure about the ever increasing shift from the left of the page, over the margin, to the right) and this one with ball-point, again, from Portuguese dictation. In fact there's another one, from the same uploader, which gives an excellent view of shorthand being taken down - this one is actually really good, the outlines are the right side the hand movement appears exemplary.

Then there's this very short lesson in Alpha Shorthand.
I'll confess to knowing very little about Alpha Shorthand other than that, like Teeline, it appears to be based around an alphabet system and proponents claim it is easy to learn...

For those interested in court reporting, this might be of interest.
For those interested in court reporting, but like to see their court reporters wheeled onto a stage set with performing music, this might be of interest.

All in all, it would appear there is still scope for high quality online shorthand video content. I really look forward to seeing it in the future...!

Great Free Resources

noreply@blogger.com (The Editor) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:33:00 +0000

So, I've been scouring the world wide web looking for some excellent free shorthand resources to help recharge the batteries and get some important practice in.

One of the best resources I've managed to find (and I've not seen it before, so I have to assume it is fairly new) is We Love Shorthand which has a range of free dictation materials at speeds from 50wpm to 120wpm. Having listened to the sound files, they resemble the old fashioned secretarial dictation pieces that I once encountered on vinyl (yip, I'm getting older - and started to take an interest in cool kitchenware) but here their reproduction is extremely crisp, the download speed is excellent and I have to admit I'm a Simpsons fan, so this site gets AAAAA from me.

For short bursts of shorthand material, I recommend checking out the shorthand drills on a journalism MA site. Again, really useful, and completely free.

For those learning Teeline, I have been so impressed with the Westminster Journalism site which has a complete guide to Teeline and I don't just mean some itty-bitty tutorials, I mean a full book reproduced online. Some theory purists might disagree with some of the author's suggestions (such as the "THR" blend should not go at the beginning of a word outline) but this book will take a learner effortlessly from beginner to intermediate and leave them hungry to learn more. As an aside, for journalists in general, this is an awesome site, with guides on how to write (don't shake your head until you've read it!), media law and common pitfalls to avoid.

When it comes to Gregg shorthand (the predominant style in the US), the tour de force has to be Gregg Shorthand. It is, and I've not used this word for a long time, stonkingly good. It has entire books online.

If you fancy putting your feet up and watching other people doing all the work, then why not watch this young lady writing beautiful notes on YouTube!

I'll keep looking for more and if you find any gems out there then please let us all know.

For now though go well and be happy...