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Poll: How often do you usually buy new dictionaries or reference material?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Dec 19, 2017

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How often do you usually buy new dictionaries or reference material?".

This poll was originally submitted by Michael Powers (PhD). View the poll results »



 
EvaVer (X)
EvaVer (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 16:54
Czech to French
+ ...
Not any more, Dec 19, 2017

at least for my main languages, as everything can be found online. But I did buy some (paper) Bulgarian dictionaries a few years ago, as online resources are not very good in that language and the search is difficult if you don't have a Cyrillic keyboard.

 
Sundar Gopalakrishnan
Sundar Gopalakrishnan
India
Local time: 21:24
English to Tamil
+ ...
All The Time! Dec 19, 2017

I buy new dictionaries and/or reference materials all the time.

 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 16:54
Spanish to English
+ ...
Other Dec 19, 2017

As and when the need arises...

 
Agneta Pallinder
Agneta Pallinder  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:54
Member (2014)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Never, but... Dec 19, 2017

I am constantly finding new dictionary and reference materials on the Internet, which I either download or bookmark.

 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 15:54
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
The same here! Dec 19, 2017

neilmac wrote:

As and when the need arises...


Last time was about one month ago...


 
Rita Utt
Rita Utt  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 16:54
English to German
+ ...
Online subscription Dec 19, 2017

I've got an online subscription for two legal dictionnaries
and I'm very happy with that.
I would subscribe to another monlingual German dictionary, but the one I want is impossible to get online.
Dear Dictionary Editors. I don't mind paying, but I would like to be comfortable.


 
Chiara Scanavino
Chiara Scanavino
Germany
English to Italian
+ ...
Online dictionaries should only complete traditional dictionaries Dec 19, 2017

Not everything can be found on the internet and not always are Google Translate and other dictionaries good.

For me dictionaries are interesting also on an academic point of view, since I have written my master thesis about the varieties of German in the learners' dictionaries of German language. However, traditional dictionaries are the best solution if you work in areas where you have no or a very bad internet connection.


 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 16:54
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
I subscribe to the big online dictionaries each year Dec 19, 2017

It probably depends on which country and languages people work in.

I subscribe gratefully to a selection of the big Danish - English dictionaries, and although I have hard-back copies of some of them, they do not have all the latest updates as the online versions do. I also have more volumes online than I have in hard copy, because the subscription package covers them. In fact I subscribe to two Danish packages.
So I don't buy as many dictionaries as I would otherwise.
<
... See more
It probably depends on which country and languages people work in.

I subscribe gratefully to a selection of the big Danish - English dictionaries, and although I have hard-back copies of some of them, they do not have all the latest updates as the online versions do. I also have more volumes online than I have in hard copy, because the subscription package covers them. In fact I subscribe to two Danish packages.
So I don't buy as many dictionaries as I would otherwise.

I still have my French-Danish hard-copy dictionaries, which colleagues tell me are updated online, but I don't use them! I find other language pairs are not nearly as comprehensive online, but I know there was (and I hope still is) a cluster of very good Danish lexicographers who laid the foundations for the online dictionaries. They are not cheap, but they are well worth the investment.

I collect dictionaries for fun as well as for use - the categories overlap! I have seriously used dictionaries I picked up very cheaply in charity shops, and I have others collecting dust, which I thought I was going to use a lot.
Collapse


 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Buy? Dec 19, 2017

The Internet is free!

 
Mario Chavez (X)
Mario Chavez (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 11:54
English to Spanish
+ ...
Paper is more durable than bits Dec 19, 2017

Chiara Scanavino wrote:

Not everything can be found on the internet and not always are Google Translate and other dictionaries good.

For me dictionaries are interesting also on an academic point of view, since I have written my master thesis about the varieties of German in the learners' dictionaries of German language. However, traditional dictionaries are the best solution if you work in areas where you have no or a very bad internet connection.


I recently completed a catalog for oil skimmers. The machine is simple enough but there are some industrial concepts I wasn't aware of. Enter the Illustrated Dictionary of Metalworking and Manufacturing Technologies, with well-organized sections. The one I was interested in had to do with metalworking fluids and coolants. This dictionary is pretty old (mid 90s) but the descriptions are quite encyclopedic. It exists only in printed form (hardcover).

Sure, the internet is full of free resources: dictionaries, glossaries, you name it. But other people (specialists, translators, terminologists, etc.) worked hard on those. Hard work aside, some of those online dictionaries are subpar, amateurish efforts.

For something to be found on the Web, someone has to make the time to create it and upload it. That time is money, even though the download is free for most of us. As a medical translator, I subscribe to cosnautas (www.cosnautas.com), an excellent source that is maintained by a team of medical professionals and translators. The material is so high quality that I'm happy to pay a yearly fee to have access to it.

I like free things as much as the next guy but I also care about my professional reputation. So, I have paid a pretty penny for my equipment and my dictionaries because my services ain't free or cheap.

Besides, paper lasts longer than ephemeral bits and needs no power source or batteries.


 
Robert Forstag
Robert Forstag  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 11:54
Spanish to English
+ ...
Generally agree Dec 19, 2017

Chris S wrote:

The Internet is free!


Most of my needs are met by a combination of what I already know and online resources. The kinds of issues that I tend to have trouble with (and I am sure that I am not the only one) cannot typically be resolved by merely consulting a dictionary.


 
Gianluca Marras
Gianluca Marras  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 16:54
English to Italian
never Dec 19, 2017

whatever I need is on the Internet and I still have some paper material that I never use

 
Edwige Thomas
Edwige Thomas
France
Local time: 16:54
Member (2014)
English to French
+ ...
Never Dec 19, 2017

I can barely pay my rent and insurance!

 
Jessica Noyes
Jessica Noyes  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 11:54
Member
Spanish to English
+ ...
Inherited Dec 19, 2017

A dear translator friend of mine died not too long ago, and his wife gave me his excellent collection of legal and business dictionaries.

 
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Poll: How often do you usually buy new dictionaries or reference material?






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