Recently TM-Town launched Terminology Repositories. Terminology is at the heart of what translators do and Terminology Repositories is an effort to create a central location where professional translators can easily search, browse and download relevant terminology files. When a new term file is added it:

• can be easily downloaded in its original form
• can be downloaded as a CafeTran term CSV file coming soon
• is added to the TM-Town terminology search index

What if I don't want to share my terminology file for free?

A few translators have contacted me and told me that they have terminology files that they have poured a lot of blood and sweat into creating. As such, they would like a place where they could earn a small fee each time someones downloads their file.

I think this is a great idea. An excellent example of this is Henk Sanderson's SanTrans site. Henk has put a lot of effort into cleaning up the IATE term files, extracting the language pairs, and making them easy to import and use in your favorite CAT tool. As such, he asks for a small payment for his time and effort.

As the goal of terminology repositories is a central place where translators can easily upload terminology files to share with the world - why not add an option where translators can decide to set a price for their repository if they so choose?

In a recent survey I did on TM-Town, 40% of you said you would be interested in selling terminology glossaries and 30% of you said you would be interested in buying terminology glossaries.

Licensing

Of course, there is one big caveat. You must be within your rights of the license of the file to sell it commercially.

This also applies to free terminology repositories. When a new repository is created on TM-Town the translator must choose an appropriate license.

This is not for TMs (translation memories)

One point of confusion in the survey seemed to be that translators were conflating translation memories (TMs) and terminology glossaries. Let me state clearly that this is only for terminology glossaries. TM files can not be added, only term files (TBX, CSV).

Additionally, let me point out that TM-Town's Terminology Repositories are entirely separate from the files you upload to TM-Town. Your files that you upload are automatically private and will always stay private. To create a terminology repository requires a specific action by the translator with the understanding that doing so means that file will now be public.

If you have any ideas, thoughts or suggestions on the idea of a terminology marketplace, please leave a comment below. I look forward to hearing from you!