Archive for the ‘languages’ Category

Friday, October 28th, 2011

Library Anywhere goes Multilingual

Library Anywhere now includes the ability for any library to translate or edit any of the English text into whatever language they like.

Libraries can even choose to have multiple languages and link between them—one in Spanish and another in English, for example.

You can also use this for simple fixes, like changing the default text in the Search box from “Search” to “Search catalog” or even “Search catalogue”.

Directions on how to get started translating or editing your Library Anywhere are here.

Learn more
Email me (abby@librarything.com) with any questions about any Library Anywhere, or how to enable translation for your account. To subscribe, contact Peder Christensen at Bowker—toll-free at 877-340-2400 or email Peder.Christensen@bowker.com.

Labels: languages, library anywhere, mobile, mobile catalog, mobile web, translation

Tuesday, July 12th, 2011

LibraryThing for Libraries International

We’ve recently added a series of improvements to the LibraryThing for Libraries OPAC enhancements, in an attempt to make them more useful and friendly to a non-English audience.

Header text
The header for each enhancement (e.g. “Tags” or “Similar books”) has always been editable, so you can label the Similar books enhancement “You might also like” or “recommended books”. Or, maybe title it “Lignende titler” or “Soortgelijke boeken” or “Liknande böcker” or “Obras similares.”

Translation of all English text
We’ve recently added the ability to let libraries translate the entire interface of the LTFL enhancements. All the text in the reviews lightbox, for example, or in the tag browser. See the below screenshot of the tag browser in a German library.

To use the translation feature, log into your LTFL account and click the Enhancements tab. Click on “Edit/Translate Interface” under the Configure section, and start translating!

Language preferences
When multiple editions of a work are available at your library, LibraryThing for Libraries picks the most popular edition. We’ve just added the ability to preference certain languages. This lets you, for example, pick a less popular German edition over a more popular English one. In the screenshot above, note that it’s pointing to “Sakrileg” by Dan Brown (instead of the English edition, “The Da Vinci Code”).

To enable language preferences, log into your LTFL account and click the Enhancements tab. Then navigate to Global configuration, and scroll down to the new field titled “Edition language preference.” Here you can enter a comma-separated list of MARC language names (e.g., ger, fre) that will control which edition of a work is displayed.

About LibraryThing for Libraries: LibraryThing for Libraries (LTFL) is a system of OPAC enhancements, designed to make your OPAC more engaging and informative. LibraryThing for Libraries enhancements include Tags, Reviews, Similar Books, Shelf Browse, Series, Awards, Lexile measures and Other Editions. We also offer Library Anywhere, a full-featured mobile catalog and website for any OPAC.

To subscribe to LibraryThing for Libraries, contact Peder Christensen at Bowker—toll-free at 877-340-2400 or email Peder.Christensen@bowker.com.

If you already subscribe to one of the LTFL enhancements and would like some help configuring translation settings, email abby@librarything.com.

Labels: international, languages, librarything for libraries, ltfl, translation

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

LTFL adds translation

LibraryThing for Libraries libraries now have the ability to translate the interface of the LTFL enhancements–making them much more usable in non-English speaking countries.

The header section had always been editable but this new feature goes far beyond that, finding every instance of English text and letting each library translate the string into a different language, or even just to edit it to their liking. See, for example, the text in the lightbox that opens when you click to read reviews, at this German library in the screenshot to the right.

We know that the logical next step is to allow for a dual language interface–switch between English and French, for example–and we’re thinking through how we’ll handle that, but wanted to release this as a first step.

To enable the translation feature, click on “Edit/Translate Interface” on the Enhancements tab in the LTFL admin site. Then click “Edit/Translate Interface” under the Configure section, and start translating!

Questions? Email abby@librarything.com

Labels: languages, librarything for libraries, translation