A Unique Medium

by Gabe Bokor

Whether you’re a novice Web-surfer or a veteran hacker, you’ll

agree that there has never been a medium similar to this one.
You’re reading information stored in the form of a few electrons on a
computer probably located hundreds, if not thousands, of miles from
where you are at little or no cost to you. Millions of other potential
readers can also access it at the click of a mouse.
Since we’ve chosen to call this publication a “journal,” it can be
revealing to compare it with its traditional namesakes.

From the reader’s viewpoint: You, the reader, are getting quality
information at no cost, without advertisements. You can never
misplace the Journal, because you can recall it at any time, even if
you’ve forgotten its URL, by entering the key words “Translation
Journal” in any Web search engine (the optimum search strategy
may vary from one engine to the other). In addition to the current
issue, you can access any of the five previous issues with a click of
the mouse from the front page.
In addition to the pages specifically dedicated to links of interest,
Surfing the Web for Fun and Profit and Translators’ Web Resources,
many other pages contain references that are immediately available
with a click on the hyperlink. You can also contact the editor or the
author of any article on the spur of the moment as if they were
sitting next to you.

From the contributor’s viewpoint: The Translation Journal offers

a unique promotional opportunity to translators with specific
knowledge in selected areas, be it technical, educational, or other.
They can display their capabilities and reach potential clients at no
cost and more convincingly than through thousands of résumés sent
via snail-mail. These potential clients can easily contact them via e-
mail while the impression is still fresh on their minds or go to these
authors’ web sites (if they have one) for more information.
The process of contributing an article for the TJ is unlike that for
any other publication. After approval of the abstract and of the full
article, the e-mailed text is formatted and edited by the editor and
placed, together with the relevant graphics, on the Web at an
unlinked, “secret” URL, only revealed to the author, who can then
see how his or her article will appear and what (if any) changes
have been made by the editor. Questions of form and content are
often discussed between author and editor. Either of them can
suggest last-minute alterations in or additions to the text, even
after publication date! Try to do that with a traditional journal!
The article remains on the Web for months and years, easily
accessed by interested readers. It is regularly visited by search
engine spiders, so that it can also be found by people who have
never heard of the Translation Journal.

For the environment: Since its launch in July 1997, the

Translation Journal was visited by over 18,000 readers. At 3 ounces
(or 85 g) a copy, this circulation of a traditional journal would have
consumed over 1.5 tons of paper. This much less trees have to be
cut down and processed, and this much less waste has to be
disposed of. Even considering that some readers will print out the
articles of their interest, the savings in resources consumed are
considerable.
And, finally,

From the publisher-editor’s viewpoint: Producing and mailing

18,000 copies of a paper journal would cost tens of thousands of
dollars. It certainly could’t be done without defraying at least some
of the costs either by charging subscription fees or by accepting
advertisements or both. Not depending on printers and the postal
service is a big advantage, and so is the flexibility of not having to
fit the text in a predefined number of fixed-size pages.
But the greatest bonus to the editor is the contact with
translators—readers and contributors—from all over the world.
Some of these contacts have resulted in long-distance friendships or
valuable business leads. To me, editing the TJ has been both
enjoyable and useful. I sincerely hope that reading it has been a
similar experience for you.

© Copyright 1998 Translation Journal

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Last Updated: 11/21/1998 11:13:15