Guidelines for academic scribe service

[thakerm]

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Hi SDN,

I am a first year at UMDNJ SOM and wanted to start up a scribe service amongst the students. I was wondering how other osteopathic schools provide lecture recordings as well as notes to the entire class. We already record the lectures through the IT department however I would like to provide a set of notes to the class based on each lecture. I was wondering if anyone had any specific guidelines on how to do this?

Thanks

MT

 

[Bacchus]

I might get this wrong, but I think this is what's going on here at PCOM.

We have 3 head scribes overseeing the operation. There is a reviewer for the service and an assistant viewer. There is a head booth operator as well. There might also be a treasurer... I'm not sure.

The head scribes orchestrate the entire process, managing scribes, keeping track of demerits (you lose money), and overseeing the other positions. The reviewers do just that, with the head reviewer making contact with the scribes for the assistant. The booth operator runs the AV booth, setting up an MP3 recording and facilitating and technology problems with the faculty. The school is going to be installing a video/audio sync eventually.

All positions outlined above get the scribe service for free. The assistant gets the service for half price. Scribes are paid either $30 or $40 per lecture, I believe. You can lose money if your notes have a certain amount of inaccuracy or you don't follow timelines. Notes must be to the reviewer the next day unless granted permission, in the case of an exam for example.

We pay $225 for the service as students. Notes are available in .doc format on BlackBoard and the mp3's accompany. There are no paper notes.

 

[JAR]

Here are guidelines used at an osteopathic medical school that may be helpful for you http://www.hsc.unt.edu/tcom2005/Scribe Service Guidelines for Writing Scribes.htm

 

[thakerm]

Thanks Jar and BACCHUS. Excellent advice. Do you guys feel the scribe notes are worth it? I really want to initiate this service not only for my class but for classes to come.

Mihir

 

[Bacchus]

I think they are. There are just some things I'm not going to be able to take down. I could invest in a recorder, but my time (as I need it) is more important to listen in lecture, take down what I can, and then get the scribes notes instead of listening to a recording on my own.

 

[group_theory]

Thanks Jar and BACCHUS. Excellent advice. Do you guys feel the scribe notes are worth it? I really want to initiate this service not only for my class but for classes to come.

Mihir

I benefited greatly from the scribe service at PCOM. During lectures, I could focus on learning and listening to the professors, and with my own notes, just write down the important things (instead of everything). I knew the scribes will pick up the majority of stuff the professors said during lectures. If you focus on writing everything down, you may miss segments of the lectures because you are too busy writing.

Scribes also have the advantage of going over recordings of the lectures, so they can rewind and listen to phrases several times - improving the accuracy of the note taking. This is helpful for classes such as biochem, pharmacology, microbiology, etc. You don't have time to spend 2-3 hrs to go over each 1-hr lecture. The scribes also organizes their notes so that it is more coherent (and easier to learn and memorize). This is a major benefit compare to just "typing exactly what the lecturer said".

With time, you learn which scribe you like and which scribe you don't like. Good scribes are offered more opportunities to scribe (and thus make more money).