De Contextbank: Een Nieuw Concept In Computerondersteund Vertalen

What aids does the translator have at her disposal and in to what extent do these aids respond to her needs. An important part of the working time of a translator is spent looking for the right word. Definitions of words can be found in dictionaries and in terminological databases. More often than not, however, the term looked for by translator cannot be found in these tools. If the term is mentioned, the definition given often does not exactly correspond to the meaning used in the source text. And if the translator wants to know how a term is used in a certain discipline, with what other terms it can be combined, in which different meanings it is used, what its frequency is and in what situations it is used, then dictionaries and termbanks fail to come with an answer, which then can the only be found in the literature of the disciplineConsulting existing contexts or specialized literature is a time-consuming, but nevertheless necessary activity for a translator who wishes to produce terminologically correct texts.To cater for the need of context for a translator we have developed a "context bank". In this database the translator can search a large number of contexts with his own p.c.During the presentation a demonstration was given of the context bank by means of a number of translation problems. It was explained how the records in the database have been built up and how a translator can consult the database via his own p.c. without leaving his text. It was explained also what types of software and hardware can be used and how one can subscribe to the context bank.