CIL 2010: Making an Impact with Multilingual Websites - get global with your local

Making an Impact With Multilingual Websites

get global with your local!

Lora Baiocco and Jocelyne AndrewsWestmount Public Library. Quebec, Canada.

Computers in Libraries 2010, Cybertour

multilingual web services

• website

• (S)OPAC

• social media

• bibliographic enhancements

Agenda

• Context

• 6 Tips

• 4 Wishes

http://delicious.com/multibiblio

where we’re coming from

why multilingual for us?

• demographics• legal and political• service

• Fully bilingual:– website : www.westlib.org– OPAC : www.westlibcat.org

why multilingual for you?

• whole community

• physical vs. virtual. Still?

• access = Value – (for customers & decision makers)

• Conversation– how can we be all about the conversation if we’re not

even speaking the same language?

digital divide

brecha digital

fracture numérique

divario digitale

Image from Flickr by Pete Ashton: http://www.flickr.com/photos/peteashton/146434350

6 Tips

Image from Jack Newton (jdn): http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdn/2400098202/

Tip

1

Use free stuff

New South Wales State Library, Australia

http://www2.sl.nsw.gov.au/multicultural/glossary/

UNTERM – United Nations Multilingual Terminology Database

http://unterm.un.org/ http://delicious.com/multibiblio

Tip

2

Translate &

Re-use

Image from Flickr by Dylan Otto Krider (memekiller)http://www.flickr.com/photos/memekiller/3498144025

Consider…

• contact us info

• services

• logos

Tip

3

Find opportunities in what you’re already doing

Help them find you

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bibliowestmount/4031386701/in/set-72157622585782730/

Tag it!

Photo by Thomas Hawk on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/4438276518

http://www.umanitoba.ca/libraries/services/multilingual.html

Tip

4

Design with language in mind

www.westlib.org/adosteens

Our teens speak… www.westlib.org/adosteens

Tip

5

Use the

Catalogue

Make materialeasy to find by language

collocate collections!

• create a virtual “branch”

• add a local SH

• offer language as a filter

http://delicious.com/multibiblio

Tip

6

Transcreate

What the eh? is transcreate?

Active process

• Understand

• Adapt

• Create

Photo by Adam (atomatic) on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/atomatic

4 Wishes

Wish

1

Multilingual Add-ons

We wish...

Interfaces AND content in multiple languages =

ALWAYS AN OPTION

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5a/Checkmark.png

Example: AddThis

Wish

2

Re-think Search

We wish…

More people (vendors included!) would start to leverage available technologies to re-think search

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gerlos/3119891607/

Example: CACAO Project

• Cross-language Access to Catalogues and Online libraries

• http://www.cacaoproject.eu/

• Translates the search

http://www.cross-library.com:8080/advancedUI/

Wish

3

Design Intention

We wish…

Library services were always designed to serve users in multiple languages FROM THE OUTSET

Wish

4

Access for All

We wish…

For access to information for all library users

whether they seek it in the ways and languages we’re familiar with or not

CONTACT US: in English or/ ou en Français

Lora Baioccolbaiocco@westmount.org

Jocelyne Andrewsjandrews@westmount.org

http://delicious.com/multibiblio