Page 143 - DLIS006_INFORMATION SOURCES AND SERVICES

Information Sources and Services

Notes Introduction

Various types of reproductions – photocopies, photographs, digital images and their paper
copies – are available for publications. Reproductions are made for private use, research needs
or publication activities requiring a high level of quality. Customers are also given the
opportunity to carry out reprographic imaging with their own equipment. This unit will help
you by providing information about the various equipment and methods available, the criteria
for choosing a method, and how to work with printers and graphic arts specialists. Before
studying these methods and equipment, however, you need to learn about the legal aspects of
copying.
7.1 Meaning of Translation Services

Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an
equivalent target-language text. In the context of the translation process and end product, human
translation contains many definitions and interpretations. Professional translation experts view
the majority of them as meaning-based, which is in line with the age-old translation service
tradition. Therefore, the human translation process is viewed as a detached and isolated practice
wherein the professional translation agent has to handle textual material that contains all the
information needed to make sense of the overall message. However, re-evaluating the definition
of translation in the modern context may be required in order to better understand its true
meaning.
The indispensable contribution of textual examination and genre studies root from the significance
of contextualizing texts. In a manner of speaking, “meaning” isn’t defined as content anymore;
it’s now being modified and parleyed in accordance to external factors that play an important
role in the comprehension of the communicative act involving formal and social conventions,
communicative purposes and private intentions, places or ceremonies, institutions, and actors
or participants. The rise of the Internet has fostered a world-wide market for translation services
and has facilitated language localization. Translation studies deal with the systematic study of
the theory, the description and the application of translation.

Every translator must define the services they will offer. It is important to be aware that translation
is not the only service a language professional may offer and that it is possible for a professional
translator to offer different services in different fields. Together with services, translators must
also choose the fields in which they will offer these services. Some language professionals may
feel comfortable with offering interpreting services in a given field as they may have such a
good knowledge in a specific field that interpreting in real time may come natural to them
while they may only focus on translation in others.
The same applies to the language-service combination. While some language professionals
may offer translation services in all the languages they handle, they may focus on interpreting
only in those languages they handle best.

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Caution Once services and specialization have been defined, translators must set their
rates, including surcharges, discounts and minimum charges. Rates will depend on the
translator’s desired income, productivity, the amount of vacation taken and other factors.
For eastern languages, translation is all about transforming the message. For western languages,
translation is all about transporting it from one language to another. Ironically, the translation
for the word “translation” shares no common ground to the languages around the world, so its
meaning is ultimately ambiguous depending on cultural context. The balance between source

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