For Translators and Translation Editors Note-Taking presents... by Riccardo Schiaffino CTA 3rd...

for Translators and Translation Editors

Note-Takingpresents...

by Riccardo Schiaffino

CTA 3rd Annual ConferenceBoulder, May 4-5 2013

© Riccardo Schiaffino, 2013

Note-Taking for Translators and Translation Editors 2

Introduction

Have you ever found yourself looking at a piece of paper where you had scribbled some phone number or other information, but forgot to add what it was about?

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Introduction

Note-Taking for Translators and Translation Editors

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Introduction

If you find yourself regularly looking at scraps of papers or post-it notes on which you wrote "555 412 3311", without any hint of who the phone number refers to, any explanation of what it was about, and you cannot remember whether it was someone you were supposed to call, or a call you received...

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Introduction

Note-Taking for Translators and Translation Editors

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Introduction

... Then it means you need to put things in better order!

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Introduction

• What you'll get out of the presentation:

A good way to take notes during translation and make your life easier and your work better.

• And why you should care:

Good notes help make your translations better and more consistent.

If you take and keep good notes (and act on them!), you won't forget to ask important question, or make essential changes to your translation.

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The Problem

Our memory is unreliable - if we don't write something down, we probably won't remember it.

A good note-taking system should help prevent such problems as: • Inconsistent work during translation or editing• Not asking all the questions we should ask• Not taking full advantage of the answers

provided by the customer• Not applying terminology changes to the whole

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The Solution

A system for taking structured notes, designed to fit your needs and working habits

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A Suggested Structure for Your Notes

The structure I suggest for your notes is something that works well for me.

You may adopt a different system, but whichever system you use, it needs to be consistent.

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A Suggested Structure for Your Notes

Information to track during a translation project:

1. Work Managementa) Information about your customer or prospect

• Company• Project Manager

b) Information about your project• Instructions• PO• Word counts• Rates, conditions and deadlines• Time sheets

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A Suggested Structure for Your Notes

2. Project Notes• Terms to research Results of such research

• Questions to ask the customer Answers received

• Changes to make to a translation Record of having made said changes

• Errors found in the source text Record of having communicated such errors to the customer

• Useful reference materials you have found

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A Suggested Structure for Your Notes

Normal contents of a note: • Title• Source• Body (text) of the note• Project• Link (sometimes)• Tags (to group the note)• Time stamp

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Staging Notes

The system must allow changing the tags that define each note's status

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Staging Notes

For example, for each project, from

/Questions/To_ask

to

/Questions/Asked

and then to

/Questions/Answered

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Staging Notes

and, from

/Changes/To_make

to

/Changes/Made

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Team Notes

When you work on projects that involve other team members it is important to share notes, questions and answers.

For this, it is important to have available some tool that can be updated and seen in real time by all participants.

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Team Notes

Google Drive shared spreadsheet

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Note-Taking Tools

Software...

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Note-Taking Tools

...or pen and paper?

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Pen and paperPros • No need for yet another software tool • Immediate

Cons • Not searchable • May easily dissolve into a chaos of bits and pieces of

paper

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Note-Taking Tools

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Note-Taking Tools

SoftwarePros • Searchable • May help to keep your notes in order • Easy to convert to other applications

Cons • Yet another software tool to get and to learn • Even simple software tools tend to become more

complicated over time

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CintaNotes, an Excellent Note-Taking Tool

• Fast• Easy to learn• Simple and intuitive to use• Especially suitable for the type of

system I just described

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CintaNotes, an Excellent Note-Taking Tool

Note-Taking for Translators and Translation Editors

A note in CintaNotes

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CintaNotes, an Excellent Note-Taking Tool

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Dangerous Practices

Inline notes • Alternative translations

"Questo articolo tratta del diritto inglese / della Common Law e della sua applicazione in Inghilterra nel XIX secolo."

• Inline comments "Questo articolo tratta del [ask customer if they prefer "diritto inglese" or "Common Law"] e della sua applicazione in Inghilterra nel XIX secolo."

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Dangerous Practices

Comments E.g. the "Comments" feature in MS Word or similar features in other programs

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Conclusion

• Organize your notes in a manner that makes sense for you, and that helps your work

• Keep your notes on your computer: that way you can search them easily

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Where to download this presentation

• You can find the most updated version of this presentation on my blog, About Translation. (http://www.aboutranslation.com)

• If you are interested in the program I have shown (CintaNotes), you can find it at(http://cintanotes.com/index.html)

• CintaNotes has a special offer for the CTA conference – let me know if you are interested

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The End

Thank you, for coming to this presentation!

Questions?

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CintaNotes in Action

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CintaNotes in Action

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CintaNotes in Action

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CintaNotes in Action

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CintaNotes in Action

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CintaNotes in Action

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CintaNotes in Action

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CintaNotes in Action

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CintaNotes in Action

Note-Taking for Translators and Translation Editors