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Digital Contemporaneous Notes

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(@adamhoward1)
Posts: 3
New Member
Topic starter
 

Firstly let me apologise, I guess you receive requests like this on quite a regular basis.

Im a final year Forensic Computing student looking into the possibility of digitalising the contemporaneous note recording process. My dissertation aims to create a proof of concept that evaluates whether switching from paper pocket note books to a digital tablet version *could in theory* work from both a legal and ease of use perspective.

As part of the research phase I need to consult individuals working in the profession. I have made contact with my local forces HTCU and several individuals working in infosec, but it would be nice to have the opinions of a few others in the profession!

Is there anyone on here who has experience recording contemporaneous notes (either by hand, or using software such as CaseNotes) and doesn't mind answering some of my questions by either a skype conversation, phone call or series of emails. UK would be great, but the practices in other countries would be interesting to know! I'm happy to send an email from either my university or force (im also a Special Constable) email to validate who I am. I understand the concerns some of you may have with giving your contact details to a newly joined member with one post, so hopefully that may relieve several of your concerns.

Your help will honestly be greatly appreciated and would benefit my project hugely.

Adam

 
Posted : 14/02/2014 6:46 pm
jhup
 jhup
(@jhup)
Posts: 1442
Noble Member
 

Elucidate on what you mean by "contemporaneous notes". Are you saying noting simultaneously occurring events, or noting an event simultaneously?

I used (and still use for certain things) engineering notepads (engineer's moleskine) before taking advantage of digital note taking.

 
Posted : 14/02/2014 8:23 pm
(@adamhoward1)
Posts: 3
New Member
Topic starter
 

Sorry for the confusion. The definition I understand for contemporaneous notes is "notes made at the time or shortly after an event or incident"

The best example is probably Police Officers and their Pocket Note Books. The notes they write in their PNBs are classed as contemporaneous.

 
Posted : 14/02/2014 9:01 pm
(@templar)
Posts: 1
New Member
 

It's more of a British thing, you do not really see the same style of note taking in the USA, probably due to the many different levels of law enforcement.

For example in the UK, all police officers and investigators will record notes at the time of, or very close to the time of an incident. They'll be recorded in an official (and in some cases serial numbered) notebook with numbered pages.

 
Posted : 14/02/2014 9:07 pm
(@ali-b)
Posts: 16
Active Member
 

From my experience the contemporaneous notes produced are very rarely every used in any legal proceedings - as anything seen as evidential is included within a report for court proceedings.

My notes are often are just used to review particular aspects of an investigation or answer specific questions raised by lawyers.

That been said, an electronic 'pro forma' system with areas for information commonly recorded in most examinations and enquiries could save a bit of time in the long run.

 
Posted : 14/02/2014 9:53 pm
(@adamhoward1)
Posts: 3
New Member
Topic starter
 

From my experience the contemporaneous notes produced are very rarely every used in any legal proceedings - as anything seen as evidential is included within a report for court proceedings.

My notes are often are just used to review particular aspects of an investigation or answer specific questions raised by lawyers.

That been said, an electronic 'pro forma' system with areas for information commonly recorded in most examinations and enquiries could save a bit of time in the long run.

That was partly my idea. An electronic system with a feature that allows you to create 'templates' that you can use as a basic structure to record sets of information. I feel it could potentially save stacks of time.

I'll take policing as an example again. You could use a 'suspect template' to record an individuals information. Box 1) Name. Box 2) DoB. Box 3) Place of Birth etc. It would just provide some structure that reduces the chance of missed information and errors.

I'm interested to know, have you ever had to refer to your contemporaneous notes whilst giving evidence in court?

 
Posted : 14/02/2014 10:01 pm
(@redeyes)
Posts: 11
Active Member
 

I quite like Microsoft OneNote as a note taking tool. I can have the same document open on several machines at once and I can embed screen captures.

My main reason for note taking is I have crap memory so it's useful to screen grab dialog boxes to remind me of what I ticked or didn't.

I like screen grabbing - it stops typos in coying results etc.

The main disadvantage of OneNote is you cant lock a page against future editting.

Mick

 
Posted : 15/02/2014 3:26 pm
(@trewmte)
Posts: 1877
Noble Member
 

adamhoward1 as you want to deal with digital evidence perhaps look at the case of

- Sophocleous v Ringer [1988] RTR 52

- Law Commision report http//lawcommission.justice.gov.uk/docs/lc245_Legislating_the_Criminal_Code_Evidence_in_Criminal_Proceedings.pdf

- Contemporaneous notes s127 and s129 Criminal Justice Act 2003 http//www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/44/contents

You might also want to look at various forms of methods to create contemporaneous records other than pen and paper

Dragon Naturally Speaking - http//www.nuance.com/dragon/index.htm
Read & Write Gold - http//www.readwritegold.com/
ClaroRead - http//www.clarosoftware.com/
Inspiration - http//www.inspiration.com/
MindView - http//www.matchware.com/en/
Audio Notetaker - http//www.sonocent.com/en
Sonority Software - http//www.olympus-sonority.software.informer.com/
Video Note Taking Utility - http//videonotetaker.sourceforge.net/

I know these programs work as I introduce and demonstrate them to DSA students and other professionals for recording activities required to be documentated etc.

 
Posted : 15/02/2014 8:04 pm
 sube
(@sube)
Posts: 1
New Member
 

You may also want to take a look at John Douglas' CaseNotes http//www.blackthorn.com/casenotes/.

Best regards,
Suman

 
Posted : 15/02/2014 10:20 pm
(@garethb)
Posts: 13
Active Member
 

My organisation uses Lima for this, although I have no doubt there are others available.

http//www.intaforensics.com/software/lima-product-suite/

Works well, we take a detached case onsite with a laptop, make notes, create exhibits etc then simply resync it back to the main database when back in the office. I have not used any paper based method for over a year and see no reason to.

Please note - I have no affiliation with the company that make Lima, merely a user of the product.

 
Posted : 16/02/2014 1:57 pm
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