Abstract
With the rapid growth of the Internet and the recent developments in translation technology, the way translators carry out their translation-oriented research has changed dramatically. Resources used by translators to conduct such research have diversified and largely moved from paper to online. However, whilst the number and the variety of online resources available to translators is growing exponentially, little is known about the interactions between translators and these resources. The present research empirically examines the use of online resources by professional translators during their translation-oriented research activities and it does so from an information behaviour perspective. As a first study of its kind, it focusses on freelance professional translators working at their normal place of work. Specifically, this work addresses the questions of the nature and quantity of resources used by translators as well as the time they spend on research activities. Furthermore, it examines the individual differences between the participants during the research activities. These differences are studied by considering the types of resources used and the ways they are accessed, and by investigating the many volume- and time-related aspects of each translator’s research activities. The main contribution of this study lies in the identification of patterns and their systematisation through a multidimensional analysis, culminating in the formulation of two taxonomies - the Resource Type User Taxonomy (RTUT) and Taxonomy of Translator Research Styles (TTRS). It is argued that whilst RTUT may largely depend on technology developments, TTRS reflects the more innate traits of translators’ information behaviour. By employing a two-stage, multi-method approach (Global Survey, N=540 and Main Study N=16), and by conducting it remotely, through the Internet, the present study represents a quasi-naturalistic research design which aims to observe translation processes as they happen in translators’ natural working environments. This methodology in itself constitutes a contribution to translation process studies.