Alain Désilets is a researcher at the National Research of Canada. His wiki research focuses on usability of wikis, and on tools for collaborative translation of wiki sites:
At WikiMania 2007, he will present a paper that analyzes the usefulness of Wikipedia and Wiktionnary for translators, based on data collected in an ethongraphic observation of translators doing their work.
Abstract
In this paper we investigate how WikiMedia resources (particularly wiktionaries, wikisauruses, and wikipedias) could be improved to make them more useful for translators. Our analysis is based on data collected from ethnographic observation of translators in the workplace. We show that WikiMedia resources as they currently stand present serious limitations for translators. We then outline a research agenda to develop technology that could address those limitations, by mining information from wiktionaries, wikipedias, wikisauruses and the web in general, and recombining it in a way that is better suited to the needs of translators.