Page 144 - DLIS006_INFORMATION SOURCES AND SERVICES

Unit 7: Translation and Reprographic Services

material faithfulness and pragmatic adaptation via localization will probably be debated by Notes
theorists and experts for years—perhaps centuries—to come, which gives new meaning to the
term, “Lost in Translation”.
As a librarian working in a public library with a highly diverse, culturally and linguistically,
service area it is easy to understand just how important it is to serve our different communities
in their native language. How can libraries expect inform patrons adequately about their
borrowing policies if all of the information published or available is in English? It is not a new
idea to translate information into different languages so that non-English speaking patrons can
enjoy the same benefits and use the library just as English-speaking patrons do.

Did u know? Providing a Spanish translation service to libraries and information centres
in Colorado at no charge is a new concept.
Interpreting and translation are two closely related linguistic disciplines. Yet they are rarely
performed by the same people. The difference in skills, training, aptitude and even language
knowledge are so substantial that few people can do both successfully on a professional level.
On the surface, the difference between interpreting and translation is only the difference in the
medium: the interpreter translates orally, while a translator interprets written text. Both
interpreting and translation presuppose a certain love of language and deep knowledge of more
than one language.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
1. ............................. is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means
of an equivalent target-language text.
2. Translation studies deal with the ............................. study of the theory, the description and
the application of translation.
3. Every translator must define the ............................. they will offer.

7.2 Skill Profile of Technical Translators

Recent decades have seen the work of translators shift into several new dimensions, mainly due
to technological advances and the process of globalization. The dramatic increase in the
information to be translated, along with the availability of translation-memory tools, has led to
changes both in the translator’s work processes and in relations with clients.
The differences in skills are arguably greater than their similarities. The key skills of the translator
are the ability to understand the source language and the culture of the country where the text
originated, then using a good library of dictionaries and reference materials, to render that
material clearly and accurately into the target language. In other words, while linguistic and
cultural skills are still critical, the most important mark of a good translator is the ability to
write well in the target language.
Even bilingual individuals can rarely express themselves in a given subject equally well in both
languages, and many excellent translators are not fully bilingual to begin with. Knowing this
limitation, a good translator will only translate documents into his or her native language. This
is why we at Language Scientific absolutely require our technical translators only translate into
their native language, in addition to their subject matter expertise.

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