Another typical error occurs where two separate English entries translate into a term which is sorted under the same letter. For example:

English

D

Default Window....5

W

Window, default....5

Italian

F

Finestra principale....5

Finestra, principale. 5

Some index generators, such as the one included in Adobe FrameMaker, distinguish between upper case and lower case entries; be consistent in the use of upper and lower case in the translations. If the index markers contain the same entries with a different case, duplicate entries will be included in the generated index file.

2. PLANNING INDEX TRANSLATION

Translate the index entries while translating the running text, or leave all index entries to be translated after the entire manual has been translated.

If there is only one translator working on a document or if a translation memory tool is used, the index markers should be translated while the translator is working on the running text. When multiple translators are working on a single manual, however, there are two options. Either have all team members translate the index entries included in their sections, or ask one of the translators to translate all index entries when all text has been translated.

Many translators prefer to translate the index entries for a chapter, once they have finished translating each chapter. With projects involving multiple translators, this will make it more difficult to maintain consistency in index markers, used throughout the entire manual. One way to maintain consistency within a group of translators working on the same index is to create a keyword style sheet, and include information on grammatical form for index entries, word order, and capitalization.

The best approach is, of course, to have all translators translate the index entries in their sections of the manual, and assign one translator to review and edit the generated translated index. The index editor should pay particular attention to the following:

• Translation consistency - Check to ensure that similar terms are phrased consistently. For example, all nouns should be either in the singular or plural form.

• Duplicate entries – Check for duplicate entries because of slight phrasing differences or capitalization.

• Extraneous entries – Check for keywords that are more specific than a general keyword, but appear close to the general keywords. For example, if "printing status reports" appears immediately after "printing reports", combine the two entries.

Please note that for Asian languages major adjustments may be required, because of the different sorting options. In Japanese, for example, automatic phonetic sorting is not possible without manual input from a translator.

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