Proposing editorial catalogue and presenting editorial products in

Proposing editorial catalogue and presenting editorial products in English Some proposals for better translations having in mind users’ needs Patrizia Collesi - Istat/DCDE Q 2008 – Parallel session “Cross-national Comparability” Rome, July 11 2008

European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics 2008 Content Overview § Bilingual catalogue § Technical communication and the users § The methods/working flow in translations § Quality in translation/meeting users’ needs: Usability § Purpose of the text § Engineering better technical texts , Rome July 11 2008

European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics 2008 Bilingual catalogue Peer Review from Eurostat, October 23 -25 2006 Improvement action 15. 2 for the Dissemination Directorate: Introduction of Catalogue in English on all publications § “The objective is to give the opportunity to users to have an overview in English of all publications” § Time constraint: 2008 § Working Group to set out methods and translations § The catalogue as it is now § The catalogue in an ideal world Rome, July 11 2008

European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics 2008 Bilingual catalogue Catalogue content Search by key words For each publication the following information is given: § Descriptive metadata úContent presentation (usually the back cover) úTitle, Series úPrices úISBN úHow to order (Order form) Rome, July 11 2008

European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics 2008 Technical communication and the users/1 Addressing the user § Need to understand readers’ cognitive strenghts and weaknesses § Usability: true mark of technical texts § What do we mean by usability in technical texts: ú Ability to help users achieve specific goals Rome, July 11 2008

European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics 2008 Technical communication and the users/2 Who is the user? § General characteristics: ú Educational attainment ú Technical/statistical competence ú Time to devote for reading § Culture-dependant characteristics: ú Expert in the field ú Internal/external user, member of a similar institution ú Formal level of comunication Rome, July 11 2008

European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics 2008 Technical communication and the users/3 A compromise of the previous characteristics with the intended user in mind, considering: § General characteristics: ú Education ú Technical/statistical competence ú Time to devote for reading ú Expert in the field ú Formal/informal level of comunication: matching with the addresse’s rules Rome, July 11 2008

European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics 2008 Technical communication: translation process Multilingual working flow: § Text arrives, it is revised and checked § Request of terminological support to the experts: ú Keywords ú Official documents and references in the foreign language ú Link to relevant websites ú Other relevant reference sources § Text is: ú Translated ú Checked ú Revised ú Recorded Rome, July 11 2008

European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics 2008 Quality in translation/meeting users’ needs: usability/1 Two different concepts of quality: 1. A good product § No mistakes giving rise to wrong functioning § Matching customers’ satisfaction 2. A better product § Developed as to fully match customers’ needs and their satisfaction Rome, July 11 2008

European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics 2008 Quality in translation/meeting users’ needs: usability/2 The two concepts give rise to two different situations, translation in the first case (and in the second as well) … Is an answer to the user who needs information § Economic (no time-consuming) § From the producer’s point of view § Prevent unsatisfaction Which, in the real world means… a solution/translation fits all § No politics of revising translations § Translating in a protected market, as it happens for laws and official documents Rome, July 11 2008

European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics 2008 Quality in translation/meeting users’ needs: usability/3 …the second is an evolution of the first upon time…dynamic …improving bilingual presentation is a means to § Increase customers’ satisfaction § Needs research (in translation communication) and checks studies and technical § Consider the users’ point of view § Satisfy unexpressed needs ú Analysis to have users’ feedback on translation ú Increase possibilities of finding data ú New spurs for an enhanced translations’ quality ú New possibilities of translations/new parts to be translated to meet… Rome, July 11 2008

European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics 2008 Quality in translation/meeting users’ needs: usability/4 The situation as it actually is But in the real world the final user can only judge: § The smoothness of the text § Readability (not knowing from which situation it comes from) § The layout quality of the text Rome, July 11 2008

European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics 2008 Quality in translation/meeting users’ needs: usability/5 Therefore translation quality is the result of the following aspects… Planning translation quality Controlling quality Improving quality Define quality goals Evaluate fieldwork for translators Demonstrate the need Identify readers Set up readers’ needs Devise the framework Compare work as it is accomplished with quality goals Devise texts’ features matching users’ needs Devise process to reply such features Fix process controls and checks Rome, July 11 2008 Identify improvement actions Build planning groups Take actions to bridge the gaps Give resources, training and reasons to the groups to spot the causes and device solutions Set up checks to maintain what has been reached

European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics 2008 Quality in translation/purpose of the text/1 Dominant features in translation/a Possible situations of the original texts § Sacred text § Classical text § Renowned author’s text § Well written informative text (keep the content, rewrite the text) § Badly written informative text (rewrite with attention both to the form and the content) In our case… § Information is the main component of the text § Translation may result in editing and rewriting Rome, July 11 2008

European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics 2008 Quality in translation/purpose of the text/2 Dominant features in translation/b Some examples of dominant features: § Readability § Impossibility to define the text as a translation § Terminological adherence § Conformity to the source culture § Conformity to the target culture § Conformity to the socio-professional target group Rome, July 11 2008

European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics 2008 Engineering better technical texts/1 Guidelines for producing or revising texts: a proposal § Write simple sentences and use short and familiar words § Do not overload sentences with information ú Several short sentences do not require re-reading ú A long, complicated and ambiguous sentence does § Use active instead of passive verbs § Use parallel construction ú Using similar structures to present similar information helps to reduce the amount of new information in a text and expedites the transmission of information Rome, July 11 2008

European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics 2008 Engineering better technical texts/2 Guidelines for producing or revising texts: a proposal § Use the information flow readers are accustomed to, in this case the specific frame is the text type to which the text to translate belongs: ú Publication back cover and general reference metadata w Title/subtitle w Price w Codes § Customers use frames to decode stream of information: ú Reading information in a catalogue they expect a customary flow: w The book presents/The book contains ú Something new to keep the reader’s attention: w What’s new in this edition ú Then, from the general to details: w Name of the survey under examination w Universe examined w Main results w Contents of the tables Rome, July 11 2008

European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics 2008 Engineering better technical texts/3 Guidelines for producing or revising texts: a proposal § Use routine formulas in economics and statistics: ú They sound familiar ú They help to maintain consistency throughout translation § Check with other English language (preferably mother-tongue) catalogues: ú They help to have a common framework for the catalogue ú To compare your solutions of presenting materials and text with a sound benchmark ú To device better solutions Rome, July 11 2008

European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics 2008 Engineering better technical texts/3 Rome, July 11 2008

European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics 2008 Engineering better technical texts/4 What our texts are intended for A good advertisement § Achieving “a pre-determined purpose” ú Make our products better known ú Our data more consulted ú Our production more consulted § …by means of useful communication with our target audience § Texts in English confront us with the possibility to internationalise the promotion of our products, that is ú Produce a a promotional message that will appeal to the widest target audience possible, irrespective of their cultural setting Rome, July 11 2008

Conclusions Presenting products as a way of continuous confrontation with others Plan new products/bilingual products Present selected tables in English Enhance your institutions’ visibility Rome, July 11 2008

Proposing editorial catalogue and presenting editorial products in English Thanks for you attention For questions and bibliographical references, please write: pcollesi@istat. it Rome, July 11 2008