American Philatelic Society Translation Committee Annual Report 2014 Prepared by Bobby Liao 1
Table of Contents: 1. Executive Summary 2. Translation Committee Activities Summary July 2013 June 2014 3. Terms of Service 4. Translation Committee Member Questionnaire (sample) 2
I. Executive Summary The American Philatelic Society offers philatelic-related material translation service for 35 languages through the Translation Committee staffed by volunteers. Items such as letters, cancellations, inscriptions on stamps and FDC cachets may be translated. Most of the requests that are short translations under 250 words are provided without charge. Longer translations are completed for a nominal fee as quoted by the translator. Information for submitting translation requests and the terms of service are posted on http://sites.google.com/site/apstranslationservice/. All the translation requests and completed translations are digitized and archived on Google Docs under the user account apstranslations@gmail.com. All the communication by the Committee Chair to the requestors and committee members via e-mail or regular mail are also archived for future reference. During the period from July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014, the Translation Committee received a total of 99 items for translation, an increase of 11% from prior year. We translated 99 items, 14% increase from prior year. Total number of words translated was approximately 24,700, an increase of 6% over the same period. The members of the Translation Committee contributed an estimated number of 148 hours, which was an increase of 8% over the same period last year. As compared to the same period ending 2012, we had translated 13% fewer words and spent 7% fewer hours. Please see the table below for a comparison of the three periods ending June 30 for 2012, 2013 and 2014. 2012 2013 2014 Number of Requests Received 93 89 99 Number of Items Translated 91 87 99 Number of Words Translated 28416 23366 24724 Number of Hours Contributed 159 137 148 As of June 30, 2014, we have 60 members on the Translation Committee. During the past year, we added 5 new members while 1 member resigned. 3
II. APS Translation Committee Activities Summary July 2013 June 2014 Total Number of items received: 99 (89)* Number of items translated (or in progress): 99** (87) Number of words translated (estimate): 24,700 (23,400) Number of hours contributed (estimate): 148*** (137) Number of languages covered in the translation: 22 (24) Number of APS TC members worked on the translations: 28 (25) Number of Non APS members helped with the translations: 5 (2) As of June 30, 2013 Number of Translation Committee Members: 56 Number of Languages covered: 35 As of June 30, 2014 Number of Translation Committee members: 60 Number of Languages covered: 35 * Numbers in parentheses are for July 2012 June 2013 ** We did not work on some of the requests because we were unable to find the linguistic resources to complete the work, and some work completed were requests from the previous 12-month period. *** Hours include project management, digitization, translation, editing and correspondence. 4
III. Terms of Service As an APS member, you may obtain translations of philatelic material through the APS Translation Service. Almost anything philatelic can be translated: * Letters/postcards * Cancellations * Inscriptions on stamps * FDC cachets Languages The members and friends of the APS Translation Committee can accomplish translations of practically all the major languages. Languages include: Afrikaans Arabic Bosnian Bulgarian Chinese Croatian Czech Danish Dutch Farsi Finnish Flemish French German Greek Hebrew Hungarian Italian Japanese Latin Latvian Lithuanian Norwegian Polish Portuguese Romanian Russian Serbian Slovak Spanish Swedish Turkish Urdu Vietnamese Yiddish Fees Nominal fees may be assessed in some cases while short translation requests are generally provided at no charge. Short translations are typically less than 250 words (translated into English). Requests for translation of longer items will be negotiated with the committee members; the requesting member will be advised of the price before the translation is begun. To expedite translation, members requesting translations should agree to pay all charges up to a limit that they set in advance. Translation will not proceed if the charges will exceed the member's stated limit. Effective January 16, 2009, APS members may request up to twelve items (short translations of less than 250 words each) per calendar year. After which, a US$5.00 fee will be assessed per additional item in addition to any required fee by the translator and postage forwarding. The US$5.00 fee will be donated to the American Philatelic Society. The member requesting the translation by regular mail must pay postage fees for sending or returning translation materials. As a general rule, three times the postage necessary to send the translation should be enclosed to cover all forwarding and return postage requirements. Requests will not be processed until such postage is provided. No postage fee is necessary if the requests are made via E-Mail. To submit your request via E-Mail, please send it to: apstranslations@gmail.com 5
Please include: * Your full name (as appeared in the APS membership records) * APS membership number * E-Mail address (if different from the one you are sending the request from) * Details of your request including: - Background of the material to be translated - Whether the translation is for personal use or for publication - Maximum fee for translation if any - Date needed by if any * Digital image of the item you wish to translate To submit your request via regular mail, please send it to: APS Translation Service American Philatelic Society 100 Match Factory Place Bellefonte, PA 16823 USA Please include: * Your full name (as appeared in the APS membership records) * APS membership number * Mailing Address * Phone number and E-Mail address * Details of your request including: - Background of the material to be translated - Whether the translation is for personal use or for publication - Maximum fee for translation if any - Date needed by if any * Copy of the materials to be translated. Do not send original material unless it is impossible to make clear photocopies. If it is necessary to send an original document, send it either by registered or insured mail. * Three times the postage (to cover forwarding and return postage, any unused postage will be returned) APS Affiliates Effective January 16, 2009, members of the American Topical Association (ATA) may submit requests for translation directly to the APS Translation Service. Please include your ATA membership number in your request. ATA members may request up to six items (short translations of less than 250 words each) per calendar year. After which, a US$5.00 fee will be assessed per additional item in addition to any required fee by the translator and postage forwarding. The US$5.00 fee will be donated to the American Philatelic Society. 6
IV. APS Translation Committee Member Questionnaire Please complete this page and return to APS TC Chair by regular mail to the address above or send the information via e-mail to apstranslations@gmail.com 1. Name: 2. APS No: 3. Would you like to serve on the APS Translation Committee in 2014? YES NO 4. Mailing Address: 5. E-Mail Address: 6a. Telephone No.: 6b. Fax No.: 7a. I will translate short materials up to 250 words: YES NO 7b. I will translate long materials (more than 1 page): YES NO 8a. Languages I can translate to English (please list): 8b. Languages I can translate from English (please list): 9. Materials I will translate (please circle) a. Letters/Postcards YES NO e. Pamphlets YES NO b. Cancellations YES NO f. Catalog Pages YES NO c. Inscriptions on Stamps YES NO g. Journal Articles YES NO d. FDC Cachets YES NO h. Book Excerpts YES NO 10. Other Comments: 7