Aaarrggghhhh!!!!
Oct. 29th, 2007 06:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexpgp<freewheel>
Dear compiler of the glossary I just received...
While it may satisfy some deep-seated urge, please refrain from Capitalizing Words Just To Have Them Capitalized.
This may seem like a small point to you, but there are good reasons to refrain from Universal Capitalization. First, it saves work if the translator intends to manhandle the glossary into an otherwise usable form (i.e., data for a program that scans text and finds glossary terms). Second - and this is perhaps more important - proper capitalization will alert the translator to instances where - saints protect us - capitalization is necessary. (Is it "Sulfolan" (a product) or "sulfolan" (a generic)? Since everything is capitalized in your glossary, the only way to tell for sure is to Google it.)
Electrons are cheap, keep entries short. The entry for "Boiler Fuel Export Pump Station" should be two: "boiler fuel" and "export pump station." This aids in usability (it's sad that "pump station" occurs 37 times, but never on its own[1]) and can actually reduce the number of entries in the long run. This particularly applies to the nasty habit of sentence-length entries that betray either your lack of initiative or inability to identify critical terminology.
Consistency in terminology is a virtue; so is proper spelling.
</freewheel status="incomplete">
Cheers...
[1] Typically, glossary managers don't deal with "partial" hits (imagine looking up "reactor"; do you really want a gazillion hits, returning all the kinds of reactors that might be in the glossary?) Hmmm. Aha! My ancient, creaking and overdue-for-an-upgrade Glossary Browser comes to the rescue!
Dear compiler of the glossary I just received...
While it may satisfy some deep-seated urge, please refrain from Capitalizing Words Just To Have Them Capitalized.
This may seem like a small point to you, but there are good reasons to refrain from Universal Capitalization. First, it saves work if the translator intends to manhandle the glossary into an otherwise usable form (i.e., data for a program that scans text and finds glossary terms). Second - and this is perhaps more important - proper capitalization will alert the translator to instances where - saints protect us - capitalization is necessary. (Is it "Sulfolan" (a product) or "sulfolan" (a generic)? Since everything is capitalized in your glossary, the only way to tell for sure is to Google it.)
Electrons are cheap, keep entries short. The entry for "Boiler Fuel Export Pump Station" should be two: "boiler fuel" and "export pump station." This aids in usability (it's sad that "pump station" occurs 37 times, but never on its own[1]) and can actually reduce the number of entries in the long run. This particularly applies to the nasty habit of sentence-length entries that betray either your lack of initiative or inability to identify critical terminology.
Consistency in terminology is a virtue; so is proper spelling.
</freewheel status="incomplete">
Cheers...
[1] Typically, glossary managers don't deal with "partial" hits (imagine looking up "reactor"; do you really want a gazillion hits, returning all the kinds of reactors that might be in the glossary?) Hmmm. Aha! My ancient, creaking and overdue-for-an-upgrade Glossary Browser comes to the rescue!
