Translatathon
A translatathon is an organised event where editors of online communities such as Wikipedia translate content from one language into another, usually on a particular theme. Typically they last between half a day and a day, and include basic editing and translation training for new editors. They often happen in person at meetups, but can be distributed as well. The word is a portmanteau of "translate" and "marathon".
Wikipedia translatathons[edit]
Wikipedia encourages translation, which it supports with a content translation tool and a translation policy. Examples of Wikipedia translatathons include the Women's Health Translatathon[1] and the Finland100 Finland Centenary Wikipedia Translatathon.[2]
The Wikipedia content translation tool[edit]
The content translation tool juxtaposes the source and destination languages and provides a visual editor to support section-by-section translation.
In most cases there are no restrictions on the tool, but for translations into English a Wikipedia administrator must authorise accounts (this restriction is a precaution against poor quality machine translation[3] which particularly affected English Wikipedia) .
Preparations[edit]
Some advance groundwork helps the event proceed smoothly. Translatathon organisers can contact their local Wikimedia chapter in advance. As well as lifting restrictions on the translation tool (if translating into English), the chapter may be able to identify volunteer Wikimedians to support planning and running the event. For example, creating a brief, simple template (a few lines of description of the event for participants to include on their User Page) signals to the Wikipedia community that an event is taking place. If the organiser is new to Wikipedia, volunteer Wikimedian may be available to induct new editors to creating accounts. The organiser can also suggest some particular pages for participants to translate.
Impact[edit]
There are a few ways to identify impact. If a template has been used, it is possible to refer to the records of who has used the template (while this may not exactly reflect the number of participants, it may be a useful proxy). Referring to the Content Translation Statistics and (after some time has passed) the PageView Statistics can also give clues about impact.
Dilemmas[edit]
While articles in different language Wikipedias may have the same title, their content may not be direct translations. For example, translating articles on medical conditions between languages may require changes of content or emphasis to reflect different local policies or systems, and changes of sources which may be understood in the target language.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ UCL. "Teaching translation through editing Wikipedia". UCL. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
- ↑ "Finland100: Finland Centenary Wikipedia Translatathon - Embassy of Finland, London : Events calendar". www.finemb.org.uk. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
- ↑ "Wikipedia:Content translation tool". Wikipedia. 2017-05-23.
External links[edit]
This article "Translatathon" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Translatathon. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
