[Foundation-l] Wiki Translations of Greek/Roman/XYZ classics

[wiki_tomos]

I don't think the line to draw is between translation and encyclopedia 
writing. It is more between art and science. 

Translation of a technical document, or legal, mathematical, or 
scientific for that matter, would rather be straightforward. People 
can agree on things easily. There could even be a set of glossaries 
or standards they can refer to. 

Translation of a literary work could be more difficult to agree on. 
But this is not impossible, I think. For example, a short poetry 
could be translated in many different ways and they would be equally 
valid. But if people know that they have to agree on one version, 
they will come to agreement somehow. Since it is under a free 
license, people can publish different versions elsewhere. Or, for fun 
and out of respect to each other or diverse views, they may come to agree 
to make different versions, each occupying one revision in the database, 
and offer a link to those revisions from the current version so that 
readers can compare and enjoy. 

When the work to be translated is large in volume, it needs a lot more 
coordination. It is like creating a wikibook or a set of wikipedia 
articles. They have to decide on certain editorial policies. There 
are many different policy options, and some of them would be equally 
valid. But again, because they know there is only one set of options 
to be chosen, they can come to agreement.  

I have translated various documents on wiki between Japanese and English, 
some more like an essay others more like a set of rules. My general experience 
is that wiki process is helpful. Translating something alone is not as fun. 

I do think, though, that in case of literally works, offering multiple translations 
is something valuable, something in line with the neutral point of view policy 
that we value so much. So it is nice to have some way to help development of 
multiple versions of translations. But since Mediawiki preserve 
all past revisions in the database, this can be done. Additional feature is 
definitely nice, though not necessary. 

Regards, 

Tomos

----- Original Message -----
From: Viktor Horvath <duke586 at hotmail.com>
To: foundation-l at wikimedia.org
Sent: Tue, 21 Dec 2004 00:58:47 +0100
Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] Wiki Translations of Greek/Roman/XYZ classics