The Freelance Translator's Workstation: an Empirical Investigation

The notion of a translator's workstation has been widely discussed at various points in the history of translation and computers, and a number of tools and language resources have been proposed for inclusion in it, ranging from general purpose text-editing facilities, to tools designed specifically for translators, such as translation memory and terminology management software. This paper reports on the progress of a project that has been initiated to investigate which of the many available tools and language resources translators today are actually incorporating into their workstations, and which they deem to be useful in supporting their work. Specifically, in this paper, the findings of a survey of UK translators are presented, focussing specifically on the levels of uptake of a wide range of tools and language resources. To date, some 400 responses to this survey have been received, logged and analysed. Perhaps more than other professionals, translators are feeling the long-term changes brought about by the information age. The snowballing acceleration of available information, the increase in intercultural encounters, and the continuing virtualisation of private and business life have resulted in drastic and lasting changes in the way translators work. (Austermühl 2001:1)