This article provides instruction for linking multiple deposition exhibits to plain text transcripts.


Step-by-step guide


PLEASE NOTE: The ability to link exhibits is limited to Workspace Administrators and Power Users with Admin Tools only. Users and Viewers will not be able to see or access this option within the Tools and right-click menu. Please contact a System Administrator or Workspace Administrator to change your user account role if you will needing to have the ability to link exhibits.


.LEF TRANSCRIPT FILE FORMATE: Exhibits are automatically linked

If the court reporter provides an .LEF file, exhibits will be automatically linked. After the .LEF file is selected and dragged into the Import dialog, please ensure that the "Link exhibits after saving transcript" option at the bottom is checked:


 If an .LEF file is not available, exhibits can still be linked to the transcript using the Link Exhibits tool.

  1. Upload all desired deposition exhibits into the workspace, into a folder in the Documents tab preferably named after the deponent or transcript name.
  2. Import the transcript into Opus 2.
  3. From the Documents tab, browse to the desired transcript. Right-click and choose Link Exhibits to open the Link Text to Exhibits window. NOTE: This option appears in the right-click options for TRANSCRIPTS only, and not for Documents.
  4. Click on the Select Documents button and browse to the folder where the associated exhibits have been uploaded. Click on the folder to highlight it, which confirms it has been selected.
  5. In the Link By menu, choose Name.
    • The first column shows the document name, and the second column shows the text within the transcript that exhibit should be linked to. If there is an exact match between the exhibit names and the way they are referenced within the transcript (e.g. the exhibit is named "Exhibit 6.pdf" and is referenced in the transcript text as "Exhibit 6"), Opus 2 will automatically suggest matches in blue font on the right half of the screen, next to the Text to Link column.
  6. If the text in the Text to Link box does not have an exact match anywhere in the transcript (e.g. the exhibit is named "Exhibit 1.pdf" and is referenced in the transcript text as "Smith 1"), users can edit the Text to Link. box Once the Text to Link information has been edited for each exhibit so that they match references in the transcript, press Enter to display matches to the newly entered text.
    • Opus 2 will display all matches in blue on the right half of the screen. Review the results to confirm that all exhibits have been correctly matched.
  7. If Opus 2 suggests a match that is not needed for linking, simply uncheck the box to the right of the match (as the boxes are checked by default). This will tell Opus 2 to ignore it. 
  8. If the exhibit is referenced in more than one way (e.g. for part of the testimony, it's referred to as "Exhibit 6" and in other parts as "Hughes"), additional text may be entered in the Text to Link column to link to that exhibit.
    1. Click on the plus (+) sign to the right of the check boxes to display another Text to Link text box. Enter the additional exhibit reference and press Enter to display the additional matches. 
  9. Once satisfied with the results, click the Create Links button in the bottom right. Opus 2 will process all the links. In the lower left corner of that window, a message will appear, indicating the number of links that have been processed.
  10. Hit Close and return to the transcript to review the results.

The Link to Exhibits tool is also accessible from the Tools drop-down menu in the Transcript view:


BEST PRACTICES

 Ø Scroll down the Link Exhibit dialogue box to confirm all the exhibits are linked to the proper references.

 Ø Change Text to Link to match the language in the transcripts (e.g. Change “Exh58” to “Exhibit 58” and press Enter. Opus 2 will redo the search on the transcript for all references to  “Exhibit 58”.)

 Ø To keep all exhibits organized, rename the exhibit  folders as follows: Last name, First  name – Date. The User can also include volume information, ifnecessary.

 Ø Exhibits should be OCR’d prior to adding them to the LEF  file so that they are in searchable PDF format.