Dear Visitors,
It is our pleasure to present the results of a research project carried out at the Cracow University of Technology and aimed at compiling multilingual terminology in the field of conservation, restoration and related disciplines. The project has been financed with the funds awarded by the Polish National Science Centre.
Our works resulted in the development of a multilingual dictionary containing terminology from the fields of preservation of cultural property, easel and wall painting techniques, as well as scientific disciplines related to conservation, such as art history, chemistry, physics or biology, to mention just a few. Given the diversity of issues at stake, we decided to call this terminological resource an Interdisciplinary Multilingual Dictionary.
When undertaking our research, we could not have predicted all the difficulties ahead of us nor the final effect of our venture. It turned out that though the search for and the selection of equivalents in a bilingual dictionary may be relatively uncomplicated, in the case of a multilingual dictionary, especially when it comes to the terms referring to theoretical notions, names of processes and certain objects (e.g. traditional tools), the task may generate significant difficulties. Additionally, a number of problems stem from the ambiguity of the terms which are construed and explained differently depending on the language area.
We did not set out to define the included terminology independently. The selection and description of terms is based on the literature from the relevant field. Entries which require additional explanation include direct or indirect quotations. What is more, the descriptive part of an entry may include useful collocations. When selecting the content, the functionality of the terminology used was our key criterion. The completeness of the definitions and descriptions of certain procedures remains an open issue. This applies in particular to conservation techniques, as accelerated technological progress in this area contributes to making previously popular methods obsolete. Furthermore, it must be added that the development of science is followed by terminological changes. This applies to biological systematics or the names of chemical compounds. Additionally, the definitions themselves become obsolete with time. This is why the content of the Dictionary is not of encyclopaedic nature, while the lexical resource should not be treated as a manual of artisanal or conservation techniques.
One of key assumptions we have made is to make our Dictionary public and open to modifications and corrections reflecting scientific development and needs. In order to create the term base, we have used custom-made software, which is scalable and allows for adding other scientific disciplines, sections or language versions.
Our experience in the project has shown that the translation of specialist texts requires close cooperation of academics and practitioners with relevant expertise and linguists with high translation competence. We are aware of the fact that due to the vastness of topics covered the risk of errors is high. We welcome your feedback and comments that will enable us to improve this version of the Dictionary.