ASTM International is one of the largest voluntary standards development organizations in the world, known for its best-in-class practices for standards development and delivery.¹ And in June 2006, it finally published a translation standard, F 2575-06, entitled “Standard Guide for Quality Assurance in Translation.” This guide has been many years in development, an effort supported by the American Translators Association (ATA), and is an important new resource for the translation industry and its clients.

Why should we bother with a standard? Beatriz Bonnet, president of Syntes Language Group and the ATA’s representative to the ASTM committee that developed this standard, says that the main reasons are (1) greater transparency in the marketplace, (2) better quality, (3) market differentiation, (4) education, (5) leveling the playing field, and (6) potential for certification to the standard, which equals a seal of approval.²

According to Beatriz, a standard—this standard—can help us “talk to [our] clients, find a common vocabulary with which to communicate, find ways to improve [our] practice, or even come up with new ideas to try or areas in which to expand [our] knowledge and expertise.”³ Jiri Stejskal, president of language services company CETRA and current president of the ATA, states that the ASTM standard “lists translation-specific parameters that, when given project-specific values, provide a set of specifications against which the quality of a translation can be evaluated.”⁴

The ASTM standard guide “identifies factors relevant to the quality of language translation services for each phase of a translation project.”⁵ While it is not the most exciting reading material any of us will ever have on our bedside tables, it is chock-full of valuable definitions and information for anyone involved in translation, on both the client and vendor sides. I certainly wish I had had such a document when I began in the industry eight years ago!

In discussing its significance, the guide points out that “The requester, who can be an individual or hold nearly any position within an organization, may not know the target language or even the source language and thus may not be able to evaluate the translation personally…. Thus it is important to have a standard guide for relationships between the requester and the translation service provider so that certain questions are answered before starting a translation project—questions for which answers are critical to the successful delivery of a quality translation through the translation supply chain to the end user.”⁶ Yes, indeed!

Like most standards, this one begins with a terminology section that defines and discusses vocabulary commonly used in the translation industry. If you ever wondered about, or need to agree on, the difference between translation, localization, internationalization, and globalization, for example, this guide can help you. Other items that benefit from clear definition are the roles of editor versus proofreader versus reviewer, and terms such as back translation, locale, and translation memory.

One of McElroy’s operational goals for 2005 was to develop a disaster recovery plan. We did complete this goal… but why does it matter to you?

As one of the largest translation companies in the United States, with 38 years of experience translating large volumes of time-sensitive and otherwise critical documents for Fortune 500 clients around the world, we believe we owe it to you to be as prepared as possible to continue service in the event of a disaster. We also feel responsible to our employees, for returning them to full employment and keeping them employed after a disaster, and doing our part to support our business community economy.

At McElroy, goal-setting is an important management activity that we take seriously and monitor closely. At the beginning of each year, each person on our middle management team must submit three written, specific, measurable goals for his or her department, which are published companywide in our employee newsletter, Ops Notes. These goals are closely monitored during the year, including a quarterly formal update. Then at the end of each year, reports on goals met and other accomplishments are again published in Ops Notes.

The Translation Summit in Salt Lake City on March 20 looks like it will be a great event. I was invited to be on a panel but unfortunately am unable to attend. I look forward to hearing the outcomes and perhaps participating in future similar events.