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Discussion » Questions » Communication » What's the person who takes the minutes of a meeting called? A Minute taker? Or a scribe?

What's the person who takes the minutes of a meeting called? A Minute taker? Or a scribe?

Again I think they have incorrectly referred to the person who was taking the Minutes as a scribe.. 

Posted - June 15, 2018

Responses


  • 17364
    Secretary.  Scribe and secretary are synonyms.


      June 15, 2018 1:54 PM MDT
    3

  • 6477
    Interesting..  In this case it wasn't a secretary, I am aware that in less formal situations the person taking the minutes is called the minute taker.  I've never heard it called a scribe although I have heard the word scribe used in connection with someone who writes down what a candidate says during an exam... 
      June 15, 2018 2:28 PM MDT
    1

  • 10449
    They're called a secretary. 

    Of course, I always called 'em boss.  He'd stand up there gasing away about some nonsense, taking away the minutes of everyone's life.
      June 15, 2018 2:28 PM MDT
    2

  • 7280
    I am the Secretary-Treasurer of a small non profit.  (Secretary and Treasurer are combined in one office.)

    My job is to take notes of what happens at the monthly meeting and then prepare them to be read by me in a complete and understandable summary at the following meeting.

    If I cannot be at a given meeting, it is the president's responsibility to choose someone else to take those notes and prepare them for reading at the next meeting.

    The phrase (which I know to be true, but cannot immediately reference) is: If the recording secretary is not present at a meeting, the president will designate someone in attendance to take the "minutes." 

    And that person is called a "minute taker."

    In the example you gave in your answer, scribe may be the appropriate word to use.

    Scribe

    ---a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of printing.

    ---a public clerk or writer, usually one having official status.
      June 15, 2018 3:16 PM MDT
    1

  • 5835
    I have only been aware of one person who performed that function. I thought it was odd because nobody ever reads minutes. So I read the minutes. The first entry said "Committee to count cats and dogs reported results. No cats, no dogs. Shortage discussed."
      June 15, 2018 10:22 PM MDT
    1

  • 6098
    A secretary.  At a meeting you elect a moderator and a secretary.  Unless of course you have people whose jobs it always is to do those things. 
      June 16, 2018 4:34 AM MDT
    0

  • 3680
    I don't know how company boards work, and perhaps some companies do operate in that way.

    In most voluntary clubs and societies there is no "moderator" - that is an internet-forum term.

    Instead the club Chairman acts more or less as a "moderator" for general and committee meetings, and the club Secretary takes the minutes. Both are voted into office by the AGM, and perform those roles at the Committee and any general-membership Meetings throughout the Club Year.

    In this situation any such appointment for a specific meeting is temporary and contemporary usually to cover either of these elected Committee Members being unable to attend. Sometimes such an assisting role is described as "Acting ...". 
      July 7, 2018 4:04 PM MDT
    1

  • 6098
    Honey moderators were around long before the net!  In town government at least in my part of the country a moderator was elected at the beginning of every town meeting and that goes back many years.  Companies hire people to do those specific functions.  In my secretarial position (which is now referred to as "administrative assistant" or "executive assistant") I have taken minutes of meetings for almost 30 years. 
      July 8, 2018 4:46 AM MDT
    0

  • 3680
    OK. Thank you! Ah, I wonder... Are you in the UK or USA? If the latter, is it a trans-Atlantic difference?

    I think I've heard the term used here (UK) in debates (in their formal sense, not mere discussions) but I've never seen or heard of "moderator" used in any meetings I've attended, or read of in various professional and voluntary bodies' reports. far more often the meeting is overseen by a Chairman, and Minutes taken by a Secretary. Even if the individuals are "Acting" in those roles.

    Though "administrative assistant" has been common for a long time in the UK to cover a wide range of functions, which may or may not include taking minutes.
      July 9, 2018 10:30 AM MDT
    1

  • 6098
    OK I was talking about U.S.  Don't know what they are called in your country.  We have Roberts Rules of Order which a lot of groups use. 
      July 9, 2018 10:57 AM MDT
    0