The Language of Localization: Seeking Contributors

Thanks to Richard Hamilton of XML Press for providing the instructions.

I’m working with Scott Abel and Richard Hamilton on another contribution to the Content Wrangler’s Language of… series. The team believes that “agreeing on a shared vocabulary for any discipline provides a starting place for a common understanding of that discipline for its practitioners.”

The Language of Localization collects the wisdom of 52 experts, each of whom will contribute one term that all localization practitioners should know and understand. It will be published as a book, a website, and a deck of cards. We plan to release the book in time for LocWorld Silicon Valley (1-3 November 2017).

We are still seeking contributors for the following terms:

• Script
• Bitext
• Character Encoding
• Character Set
• Desktop Publishing (DTP)
• Ethnography
• Interoperability
• Leverage
• Post editing
• Primary Market
• SRX
• TMX
• Unicode

Contributing is easy and won’t take a lot of your time. In return, you will receive 2 free copies of the book as a thank you for participating.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Tell us which term you want to work on.
2. Sign the author agreement with XML Press.
3. Provide a 150 x 150 pixel head shot as a JPG and 50-word bio.
4. Help us craft a dictionary-style definition of the term, accompanied by a short statement that explains why the term is important.
5. Create a short (250-word) essay that answers the question, “Why does a localization professional need to know this term?”
6. Moderate the comments section on a blog post dedicated to your term. Each term will be featured on a companion website after the print and eBook versions are published.

The Language of Technical Communication came out Q2 2016 and is a good example of how this project will look when it’s done.