Analysing the use and perception of Wikipedia in the professional context of translation

This paper draws on the results of an online survey conducted among professionals of the translation industry (mostly translators) to explore, from a technological and sociological perspective, how they conduct their work, the needs they experience, and the tools and resources (human or human-driven) they resort to when translating. More specifically, this interpretative and descriptive work looks at how participants use Wikipedia and analyses their perceptions of this tool. The survey results suggest that respondents made extensive use of all sorts of technologies when translating, amongst which TM and MT/post-editing were not the most popular. They also resorted to human (or human-driven) resources (translator colleagues, experts, social networks, blogs, etc.) to meet their needs (general documentation, terminological/lexicographical, visual). Respondents had a good overall opinion of Wikipedia (usefulness, reliability and ease of use) and most of them reported using it when translating. However, some results suggest the existence of some kind of controversy or censorship with regard to the use of Wikipedia in professional contexts. A discussion relating the results of this survey to other studies with similar focuses (translation tools, the translation profession, Wikipedia) could help identify trends in the way translators interact with technology in the information society.