Are translators still using physical dictionaries? Thread poster: translait_de
|
|---|
translait_de
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:17
German to English
+ ...
I am curious.
I am trying to sell some old bilingual specialist dictionaries/glossaries.
Maybe I need somewhere where translators specifically go? Ebay is not that place it seems.
On the other hand I thought maybe there just isn't the demand for them now with the advances in AI, etc.
Thoughts?
| | | |
| |
| Physical glossaries are much less used nowadays | Sep 23 |
Well, you have two negative factors coming into play :
Physical glossaries are much less used nowadays, since it is faster to use online ones, with the added value of copy/paste and of regular actualization of content.
Besides, apart from language and grammatical dictionaries, old glossaries may become obsolete, especially in fast moving specialties, and therefore may be detrimental to your work. They have a collector value, though, especially if nicely bound. You may try collector e... See more Well, you have two negative factors coming into play :
Physical glossaries are much less used nowadays, since it is faster to use online ones, with the added value of copy/paste and of regular actualization of content.
Besides, apart from language and grammatical dictionaries, old glossaries may become obsolete, especially in fast moving specialties, and therefore may be detrimental to your work. They have a collector value, though, especially if nicely bound. You may try collector exchange sites for these.
[Edited at 2024-09-23 08:24 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | |
Michael Beijer 
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:17
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
| try a specialist second-hand bookshop | Sep 23 |
sdvplatt wrote:
I am curious.
I am trying to sell some old bilingual specialist dictionaries/glossaries.
Maybe I need somewhere where translators specifically go? Ebay is not that place it seems.
On the other hand I thought maybe there just isn't the demand for them now with the advances in AI, etc.
Thoughts?
Most people don't use them anymore, but they can still contain a veritable goldmine of high-quality information. I have a company scan them into searchable PDFs, so I can access them using a professional desktop search tool like dtSearch.
You could try a specialist second-hand bookshop like this one: https://www.boekwinkeltjes.nl/ (where I buy a lot of my specialist DutchEnglish/German/French dictionaries.
See also my terminology wiki: https://beijerterm.com/
| | |
|
|
|
| It depends on a glossary | Sep 23 |
I would say that general dictionaries have lost their value as they are easily replaceable with resources available online, but highly specialized dictionaries with resources which are not available elsewhere are still useful.
| | | |
translait_de
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:17
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Thanks! will use your service | Sep 23 |
Expect to have some of the better books sent to your company for scanning to PDF soon! I will scan the better ones and get rid of the rest.
| | | |
Mario Chávez
United States
Local time: 01:17
Member (Jun 2024)
English to Spanish
+ ...
| Maybe some use printed dictionaries less | Sep 23 |
I would be careful not to make generalizations and extrapolate my own experience into a group of translators. Sure, some translators have stopped using printed dictionaries (we don't call them physical dictionaries; let's make an effort to write like we are language specialists), but that doesn't follow that printed dictionaries are less used [by translators] these days. I, for one, continue to use my printed monolingual, bilingual and multilingual dictionaries. Some excellent dictionarie... See more I would be careful not to make generalizations and extrapolate my own experience into a group of translators. Sure, some translators have stopped using printed dictionaries (we don't call them physical dictionaries; let's make an effort to write like we are language specialists), but that doesn't follow that printed dictionaries are less used [by translators] these days. I, for one, continue to use my printed monolingual, bilingual and multilingual dictionaries. Some excellent dictionaries are out of print or were never digitized or published on the web.
Online glossaries or dictionaries are never a good substitute for printed dictionaries. I won't get into the reasons because we translators should know them already.
If the translator who reads this thinks he or she doesn't need printed dictionaries, he or she doesn't know a thing about dictionaries or how to use them.
MEC
Sammy Dowidar wrote:
Well, you have two negative factors coming into play :
Physical glossaries are much less used nowadays, since it is faster to use online ones, with the added value of copy/paste and of regular actualization of content.
Besides, apart from language and grammatical dictionaries, old glossaries may become obsolete, especially in fast moving specialties, and therefore may be detrimental to your work. They have a collector value, though, especially if nicely bound. You may try collector exchange sites for these.
[Edited at 2024-09-23 08:24 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | |
Marie-Celine Grech
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:17
Member (2013)
English to Maltese
+ ...
| Depends on language combination | Sep 24 |
I personally have to use a printed dictionary as Maltese is a rare language and there are only printed versions of a full language dictionary. There is IATE which is quite EU-specific but otherwise there are only very limited online resources where a full dictionary is still being compiled. So a printed dictionary will still be on demand for certain languages.
| | |
|
|
|
| I hardly use them, but .... | Sep 24 |
.... they make a nice decoration for my office.
| | | |
Mario Chávez wrote:
If the translator who reads this thinks he or she doesn't need printed dictionaries, he or she doesn't know a thing about dictionaries or how to use them.
That will depend a lot on the translator, the field they work in and their own personal preferences. It's rather judgemental to suggest that people who don't use printed dictionaries lack the knowledge to make an informed choice.
There are still one or two printed dictionaries on my shelf that I consult occasionally but it's a long time since I bought any. I wouldn't be interested in another translator's cast-offs as it's likely they would be out of date (I could do with getting rid of a few of my own that are taking up space and never get used).
| | | |
| I still use my Ricci | Sep 24 |
I still use my Ricci dictionary of Chinese characters in French and the Espasa dictionary of the Chinese language. 2 linguistic marvels. The Ricci adaptation does not do justice to the printed dictionary. Forget about digitisations of the Espasa. Both are indispensable in my opinion for working with traditional Chinese. But I must say that if there were properly digitised copies I would use them.
| | | |
| Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member for the following reason: spammer |
|
|
translait_de
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:17
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Some great input here | Sep 29 |
In any case I am selling what I have to clear some space in my office:
https://translait.de/books4sale
Feel free to make an offer if there is anything you like.
I will have some of them scanned because I can see a scenario where the AI can read in terminology to produce better results. It's the one main area where it is currently weak.
| | | |
Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:17
Serbian to English
+ ...
| You meant to say "paper"? | Sep 30 |
A dictionary kept on a CD ROM, or a USB memory stick or on a hard disk on your own computer or on some remote server is no less "physical" than a paper dictionary. Without some kind of physical support, no dictionary - that's the current state-of-the-art, and won't change anytime soon.
Paper dictionaries, especially the specialised ones, can still be very useful. Not everything is available on the publicly available Web.
| | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
