Developments in European information issues: Networks and relays – Services – Products, December 1999

Official Journal C E

An announcement was made in August about changes to the Official Journal C series, including the start of a new series called the OJ C E. This electronic version is not a duplicate of the printed OJ C. Its precise content remains to be defined fully and it is expected to evolve over time. The COM document however is one category of material which, it has been confirmed, will be included, and with effect from the middle of July publication of COM documents in the OJ C paper version has ceased. As far as other types of document are concerned, it is up to the institutions to decide what they would like to have included and they may indeed choose to publish new documents which were not previously made available due to financial constraints. The paper version of the OJ C is to include an index of the contents of the OJ C E, and both will carry the same number, being distinguished simply as OJ C 223 or OJ C E 223. The OJ C E will appear first on Eur-Lex for 45 days before being made available on the OJ L&C CD-ROM. The texts are also to be loaded on CELEX and EUDOR. This is a development of concern to subscribers to the paper version who will now need to take the CD-ROM version also to ensure complete coverage. There is an increasing move towards electronic delivery of documents. While the savings in distribution costs and delays can be appreciated, there is still considerable merit in a print version of such key sources as the Official Journal in order to make them as widely accessible as possible to the general public. Reaction from official information relays who are being encouraged to move to reliance on the electronic version shows that, without seeking to be luddite, there are reservations about whether this is as yet a practical proposition. Not least of the concerns is the issue of reliability. The slow loading of information and the long gaps on Eur-Lex earlier this year are not reassuring.

Eurodicautom and other translation aids

Eurodicautom is the multilingual database of terminology and abbreviations developed by the Commission's Translation Service. Its interface was revamped earlier this year and it now contains more than five and a half million entries. The breakdown of language coverage indicates not unpredictably that English terms form the largest part of the database and now number almost one million. This is closely followed by French and, some way behind, German. Greek comes in at around the 400,000 mark. On the search screen the user can select the search parameters from a range of menu options. These include identifying the source language from which you wish to translate, the target language or languages into which you want to translate, which details you want included in the record display and whether to limit the search to a particular subject area. Truncation can be specified and the option of exact match, partial match or the equivalent of a Boolean AND search can be selected. The database allows users to look up individual terms, abbreviations or phraseology where a sentence or phrase shows the context. The record display can be set to include notes, details of the source, its reliability and reference information. Records contain a reliability code of 0-5 where 5 represents official terms and the bottom end of the scale means that no official source is available. The data is prepared by the translators and database managers drawing on key reference sources, specialised technical reviews, dictionaries and glossaries as well as local information. Co-operation with other bodies such as academic institutions, research centres, international organisations and professional associations has also done much to develop the resource. Under the options heading, parameters can be set for repeated searches so that you only need to specify once the source and target language and the subject areas to which the searches should be limited. To start a new search, just click on 'query' and this will carry out the next search on the criteria already defined. If you do need to redefine your criteria, then select 'options' to return to the main query page. Visit Eurodicautom at http://eurodic.echo.lu to look up those non-English terms you cannot understand.

For those interested in the official languages of the EU, other pages worth visiting are those of the Joint Interpreting and Conference Service and the website of the Commission's Translation Service itself. The Joint Interpreting and Conference Service page at http://europa.eu.int/comm/scic/index_en.htm/ explains what it is and what it does. It is of particular interest to potential interpreters looking out for recruitment opportunities.

The Translation Service site can be found at http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/translation/index_en.htm/ and contains a wealth of information. Of special note is the 'Language aids' section which includes style guides, newsletters and details of thematic glossaries and how to obtain them. Very topical and extremely useful is the specialised E terminology database. It is designed with a split screen, the terms appearing on the left as hyperlinks while the relevant translation together with notes and definitions appears on the right hand side. Both sections are scrollable. For an amusing and helpful insight into the use of language, visit the 'Fight the Fog' section. The Translation Service's FOG campaign seeks to encourage the clear use of language. Like the London Office's Euromyths section, it gives some entertaining examples of how not to do it.

The EMIRE database of employment and industrial relations terminology is another useful resource for the linguist. It is available at the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions site at http://www.eurofound.ie/information/emire.htm/ and is the online version of the printed country glossaries. The volumes for Austria, Finland and Sweden are still forthcoming but an insight into the national industrial relations systems of the other member states is given through the explanation of the terminology. It is possible to browse the alphabetical list for each available country or search for specific topics, either for an individual country or across the whole database. Hyperlinks within the definitions lead on to related information.