A look at the Duties of a Professional Electronic Note Taker
Professional electronic note-takers have a number of uses, but are perhaps most often used in the field of education, when people with sensory or mobility issues need help with note-taking. Note-takers are occasionally employed in industry too, again, primarily as support for people with sensory and mobility issues. The duties of aprofessional electronic note-taker, who will have received full training for the position, include the following:
Checking all equipment is available as necessary
It is easy to presume that an electronic note-taker needs nothing but a lap-top and typing skills when it comes to electronic note-taking. That may be all that is necessary, but it is always important to check. If you are note-taking for a group of clients, for example, you will need to confirm whether the notes are to be given to them afterwards, or if you need to type up notes onto a screen or another monitor. If that is the case, you will need to ensure that the equipment is available; presuming that everything will be in place often leads to a delay.
Communicating with the client to check what is necessary
Each client, or group of clients, will have different needs. It is easiest to confirm exactly what is needed with a single client. He or she, for example, may prefer you to make notes in bullet-point format, whereas others may prefer notes in full sentences. You may need to explain that in the latter case, there may be times when you will need to summarise the information rather than type every word that is spoken. Ask if there are any specific points that the client wants you look out for. If using a screen or monitor to allow the client to see the notes as you are typing, check that the font is large enough to see. When working with groups of clients, it could be necessary to deal with diverse needs, which will need to be tactfully done.
Typing up notes as the lecturer/speaker is speaking
The main duty of a professional electronic note-taker is to type up what the lecturer/speaker is saying as he/she is saying it. Attempting to write down all information is the aim, but this may not always be possible, in which case, learning how to summarise key points is a definite must. There may be times when the lecturer refers to a PowerPoint presentation, in which case, it is usual practice to put ‘refer to slide X’ in the notes and let the client refer back to the presentation later. The use ofshortcut keyscan save a lot of time once you are familiar with them.
Checking on spelling and other queries
There are bound to be occasions when you miss something that the speaker has said, or someone asks a question and you can’t hear what it was. There may be other times when you don’t know how to spell a specialist word. You may therefore need to be prepared to stop the speaker and ask him to confirm what was said. It can be embarrassing to do so, but if you want your notes to be accurate, it is a necessary part of the job. Alternatively, you can make a mental note to ask when the lecture/meeting is over, but by then, everyone is rushing off and there may not be time to clarify.
Confirming format of notes given to client
Most of the time, clients will want their notes to be emailed to them afterwards, which just involves ensuring you have their email address. On rare occasions, they may want notes printed out, or saved to a fast drive. For those with visual impairments, you may need to double check that the format you have is compatible with the software that they use to ‘read’ the notes; however, on the whole, most software is able to convert notes to whatever form is needed. In the case of handwritten diagrams or pictures, you may need to arrange to scan them in for the client.
Practicing good time management
Good time management is necessary in most jobs. However, as a professional note-taker, you will need to ensure your skills are particularly good, because you will often be travelling from place to place, often to locations unfamiliar to you, and yet you will always need to ensure that you are on time – or even a little bit early. Your client will probably be lost without your notes and it is a professional courtesy to be a little bit early so that you can greet your client and confirm or reconfirm exactly what it is that he/she wants from your notes.
It is easy to presume that electronic note-takers have a relatively easy job, but there is a lot more to it than meets the eye. They need to be able to take notes on a range of subjects, often at an academic level, so it is much more than simply typing what is being said – it is often necessary to have a certain level of understanding too. People skills are also vital, because it will be necessary to communicate with the client and the lecturer/speaker too. All in all, it can be a very satisfying job.
