Similar projects

In addition to the DLBT, many other research initiatives have focused on collecting translation-related metadata. The majority of them published their findings as specialized bibliographies. Only a few focus on translators and interpreters. Online databases focus generally on specific linguistic and cultural areas and time spans. Many of these initiatives originated from research projects. They are not widely known and are difficult to find via relevant search platforms such as BASE , OpenAIRE and Re3Data. 

In addition to the DLBT, there are a number of other databases, online bibliographies and digital libraries that collect information on historical translations. The following critical compilation is intended to facilitate the use of, and future networking around, this data. As well as providing general information on the organisation, structure and content of the databases, it discusses the most important aspects for scholarly analysis such as: period, languages involved, quantity, text types, infrastructure, data type, data format and additional tools.

Most of them originate from research projects and are differentiated, while a few others can be traced back to initiatives for the promotion of individual national literatures. In addition to numerous individual characteristics, there are also many similarities. Most cases are limited to one source or target language and a specific time period relevant to the research questions. Data on fictional and non-fictional literature is collected. In most cases, this involves a collection of metadata; far less frequently, we are dealing with long-term repositories whose contents are also curated. Digital libraries with access to full texts are even rarer. In most cases, metadata can be queried, but not always downloaded and thus further processed. Finally, some examples offer (complex) visualisations or prosopographic information about translators.