[Web4lib] online translation service

[Charles Heffner]

Hi Tracey,

In short, no, but it's not entirely cut and dry.

First, speaking as a former resident of Spain, I know that *many*
Spanish citizens buy client software for their own computers that will
translate an English page to Spanish in a second or two. It does a
pretty good job, and it's not cheap. Nothing on the Web exists like
it, and I'm not sure the software is widely available or known about
in North America.

Google or whomever will do a very good job translating a page if (and
only if) it's built using strict English. "Come on down for our open
house on Thursday night at 7pm" is nowhere near as good as "We are
having an open meeting on Thursday night at 7 p.m." That will be your
best bet if you must use translation via linked button.

Vaia con dios,
Chuck

On Tue, Aug 10, 2010 at 12:39 PM,  <Tracey.Reed at myclearwater.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Well, apparently according to a native Spanish speaking staff member,
> Google translate has done a lousy job of translating our web site
> (surprise surprise!).  In an ideal world, I'd have a separate site that
> is completely in Spanish that mirrors what we have on our home page and
> other pages.  But, times being what they are, this isn't an option at
> the moment.
>
> Anyone have any ideas that would allow me to put a link on the site that
> would do the same thing as Google translate (put a link on the site that
> will translate most of the site into Spanish with one click) but with
> better results?  I understand that these types of services are hit and
> miss.
>
> Any help is appreciated.
>
> -t
> -----
> Tracey Reed
> Virtual Services Librarian
> Clearwater Public Library System
> tracey.reed at myclearwater.com
> 727.562.4970 x5036
> www.myclearwater.com/cpl
> text cpls:  66746 keyword: cpls
>
>
>
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