Open Book Systems, Inc. is a publishing services firm in business since 1982. Throughout our history, we have been thought leaders in digital publishing, staying on the cutting edge of the latest online publishing innovations, and opening up new business models and opportunities for print and electronic.
As publishing standards and workflows evolve alongside technology, we at OBS have observed a trend across our work: that online publishing is the most practical and direct means to growing your market reach across the entire globe. In a world that is increasingly connected, it is more important than ever to expand your global reach. For medical publishers, this is an exciting time with increased flow of data around the world, and it is mission-important and business-profitable to publish this data and information, so it can be accessible to industry professionals across the globe. Translation Memory (TM) is technology that can help medical publisher acheive this, and we would like to share our experience with this dynamic tool.
What is Translation Memory?
Translation Memory is a cloud-based translation tool that allows authors, editors, translators, and production staff to work collaboratively and even simultaneously on a single document. Customized permissions and timelines streamline the workflow and eliminate confusion. Translated terms – once they are proofed and approved – are stored within the TM in a growing controlled vocabulary that is unique to that publisher’s content. The TM then refers to this translated vocabulary in future translation projects, automatically translating terms it recognizes. This eliminates duplicate work, reduces human error, offers transparency into the production process, and increases consistency across publications – and saves money. It also gives the publisher complete control of the translation process – something that was previously unknown in the era of foreign rights sales. See the following diagram for more information on Translation Memory Workflow:
Translation Memory Example
We used Translation Memory to help one of our clients, a medical nonprofit organization and publisher. Prior to our partnership with this organization, the translation process was unregulated and unstandardized. Research fellows took it upon themselves to translate, without assistance or verification from professional translators, and the research organization did not know what was being published. They also made their own arrangements with international publishers, resulting in inconsistent branding, pricing, and layout, as well as content. Furthermore, there was no standardized or centralized documentation of the translation process, or the sales of translated products in foreign countries, leaving the organization in the dark about its real revenues and market reach. Unverified translations on the market with the organization’s name and logo meant that they were losing control of their valuable intellectual property, and readers unsure about the provenance of the content.
OBS employs TM technology to begin to centralize and standardize the translation process. A centralized repository now holds all of the organization’s translated content. Research fellows, authors, and translators are held to the same standards and workflows, and their work is tracked, monitored, and approved. Translation costs have also been reduced over time, as the verified, translated controlled vocabulary that is stored in the TM grows with each new translation project. Repeated terms among various publications means that an increasing percentage of a title can be automatically translated by the TM before translators begin work.
Conclusion
OBS’s experience has shown that the bar to entry to the publishing market has been significantly lowered in the digital age – and that that is not necessarily a bad thing. A global, de-centralized organization such as in the example we shared– focused on research, not sales – has managed to become a publisher in its own right, with a very successful global publishing program in print and online. They would not have been able to reach this point, or this level of success, without technology, like Translation Memory, to support them.
Translation Memory is an incredible opportunity for the medical publishing community--the opportunity to advance in the industry and inform the globe.