about

=Introduction=

Professional translators are time conscious people. The Internet is a resource without which few translators would be able to live without. However, time-eater aspects of the Internet coupled with lack of web skills makes most professionals resort to only the well known sources, sometimes ignoring where a gold mine for their work truly lies.

The Read/Write Web
The Internet is no longer written or read as a book. The Internet as it is conceived today is a social, collaboratively annotated web. Social bookmarking tools such as [|del.icio.us] are valuable resources to index, publish, share and interconnect with professionals. To my surprise, looking for translators making use of del.icio.us has been a somewhat fruitless search. At the time I opened my account in 2006, it was difficult to find information tagged as "[|glossaries]", for example.

Translation Resources
In my web search for resources, I have many times found directories and commercials sites offering information classified as "resources for the professional translator". Directories maintained by individuals tend to become outdated pages as soon as the translator gets a work flow. Directories maintained by sponsored sites organise information according to commercial purposes that clog the eyes of a busy proffessional in need of relevant information.

Translators' Circles
Apart from forums and participation in portals, translators do not seem to be embracing the social networking possibilities the web is offering today. They tend to work in groups, agencies (another form of groups) but they hardly //connect// dynamically to //diverse// nodes in a worldwide network with an autonomy that permits relating to different sources, work providers and informants -as the nature of their jobs or projects fairly often require.

Translation Qualifications
The situation at colleges is sometimes stagnant. Educational institutions are build on tradition and //taxonomy//. Centralisation is at the heart of their success. However, for a translator to get ahead in his professional career, skills that are only perfected in his working life are the key to success. We are talking about skills such as the ability to search, judge sources, read and write with hypertexts, use of CAT tools as well as self-training skills in the new tools. Proficiency in these skills are the added value that will empower the professional to obtain far better job opportunities and get ahead.

The full time translator will -if lucky- be an employee with a predictable income. Most translators today are freelance and perhaps, bearing in mind translators are constant decision makers- this is only natural.

Folksonomy, Desentralised Web 2.0 and Information Distribution
Unlike other professions, there is no one place in the world where we can say the best translators have graduated. Independent bodies such as the [|ATA], the [|ITI] and the [|Institute of Linguists] are the ones to certify a translator or LSP meet the standards and best practices the job needs.

Desentralised ways of getting informed and working underpin technological advances that have been changing the way we live, learn, and work.

This wiki aims at making the most of the Web 2.0 tools the Internet has to offer to the translator professional and student.

Claudia Ceraso Buenos Aires, February 2007

=Site Organisation=

This site will deal with information and resources //access//. This wiki does not intend to be an exhaustive listing of resources, but a guide that can grow organically with every web search or the information learnt with a specific translation project. It is meant to be a starting point that can lead to relevant or at least annotated results. A narrower list than Google search result pages.

Updates
This project will grow side by side with my findings. As more translators [|get del.icio.us accounts] and add themselves to [|my network], this wiki will be enhanced with the constant search results of the community. My own web findings will automatically update the site.

=Sister Wiki Projects=

Two other wikis support this **[A]dendus** project: http://www.dele.wikispaces.com DELE offers resources for the teaching of Spanish as a foreign or second language.
 * DELE**

http://www.translatorsreview.wikispaces.com Translator's Review will include sample translations and reviews written by me as part of my studies at IES Lenguas Vivas "Juan Ramón Fernández" in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
 * Translator's Review**

=Blog= An **[A]dendus** blog is under construction. The blog will allow RSS notification of main news about these projects, whereas the wikis will most often deal with less time-sensitive information.

All projects are interlinked and share identical organisational principles with tags. The focus is on allowing seamless integration between them and reduce time for finding your way around to a minimum.