[Publib] AltaVista Babelfish

[Pomes, Stephen]

For what it's worth, I've had "good" experiences with these sites:

http://www.freetranslation.com/ 

 http://www.systransoft.com/index.html

I must admit that the computer is not good with dealing with the nuances
of language (e.g., idiomatic expressions).  Nevertheless, these two
sites are helpful.  I have some links for good online foreign language
dictionaries.  If someone is interested in these, I'll be happy to post
them.  

Steve

Stephen V. Pomes, Librarian
U.S. Dept. of the Interior
Minerals Management Service - Library
1201 Elmwood Park Blvd., MS 5031
New Orleans, La. 70123
Telephone: 504-736-2521
Fax: 504-736-2525
E-Mail: stephen.pomes at mms.gov

+++++++++++++++++

Opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily correspond to those
of  my employer.

+++++++++++++++++


-----Original Message-----
From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:publib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Beverly Michaels
Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 8:45 AM
To: Hersh, Daniel; Posedel, Emily; publib at webjunction.org
Subject: RE: [Publib] AltaVista Babelfish

To get an idea of what Daniel means by "much worse than a real
translation", and to get some insight into the difficulties of
translation in general, you might want to check out this website:
http://www.tashian.com/multibabel/

Having worked for several years as an editor of translated texts
(translated into English from various European and Central Asian
languages) I can attest that even a "simple" translation can wind up
being virtually incomprehensible...

Beverly Michaels
Circulation Services
Tredyffrin Public Library
610-688-7092, ext 201


-----Original Message-----
From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:publib-bounces at webjunction.org]On Behalf Of Hersh, Daniel
Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2006 6:42 PM
To: 'Posedel, Emily'; publib at webjunction.org
Subject: RE: [Publib] AltaVista Babelfish


I use it.  It's much better than no translation at all, and much worse
than a real translation.  Try translating text from any other language
into English and you'll see what I mean--you may well get a decent
general idea of what the text was about, but the output will not be
close to idiomatic English.

Daniel Hersh
Oakland Public Library
dhersh at oaklandlibrary.org

-----Original Message-----
From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:publib-bounces at webjunction.org]
On Behalf Of Posedel, Emily
Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2006 3:42 PM
To: publib at webjunction.org
Subject: [Publib] AltaVista Babelfish

I was wondering if anyone has experience with AltaVista's Babelfish.
How accurate is the translation?  An example of a site with this tool is
<http://www.lavergne.org/> .  Thanks.

Emily Posedel
Web Content Specialist
Access Services & Training Division
San Diego County Library
858.694.2449
www.sdcl.org

_______________________________________________
Publib mailing list
Publib at webjunction.org
http://lists.webjunction.org/mailman/listinfo/publib
_______________________________________________
Publib mailing list
Publib at webjunction.org
http://lists.webjunction.org/mailman/listinfo/publib
This Chester County Library System e-mail message, including any
attachments, is intended for the sole use of the individual(s) and
entity(ies) to whom it is addressed, and may contain information that is
privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable
law. If you are not the intended addressee, nor authorized to receive
for the intended addressee, you are hereby notified that you may not
use, copy, disclose or distribute to anyone this e-mail message
<br/>including any attachments, or any information contained in this
e-mail message including any attachments. If you have received this
e-mail message in error, please immediately notify the sender by reply
e-mail and delete the message. Thank you very much.
_______________________________________________
Publib mailing list
Publib at webjunction.org
http://lists.webjunction.org/mailman/listinfo/publib