| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Feature proposal: Vote for "automatic content request" Thread poster: Jaroslaw Michalak
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Steffen Walter 
Germany
Local time: 12:00
Member (2002)
English to German
+ ...
| Everything is context - there's no such thing as "no context" | May 10, 2005 |
sarahl wrote:
What if the asker himself has no context?
Sarah
Hi Sarah,
The headline to your contribution is plain misleading. There is no such thing as "no context". (You put things in perspective in your reasoning, though.)
"Little context" example: Even if faced with a list of terms without any other info, the asker might still a) inform us of the type and intended purpose of the document, b) post some more terms contained in the list, c) tell us more about the (end) client, e.g. about the industry in which it operates, etc. etc.
Regarding the "automated content/context request" proposal, I'd be in favour but this feature could not replace the "Ask the asker" box since, quite often, we would have to ask specific questions of the type "Is this about a patient suffering arterial hypertension?" or "Does this refer to construction machinery?" to narrow down the subject matter.
My 2c worth,
Steffen
| | | | Klaus Herrmann
Germany
Local time: 12:00
Member (2002)
English to German
+ ...
Cilian O'Tuama wrote:
I'd be inclined to take it one step further and make it impossible for anyone to propose an answer if someone else has already requested context.
Excellent suggestion. I'd love to see that implemented.
I find it plain rude the way numerous people ignore requests for more/any context. Amen!
Jabberwock wrote:
Removing a question because of lack of response is totally unfair to those who answered the question. They still took time to answer (and it could be even harder without the context!) and they deserve their hard earned KudoZ points.
If there is no context, most answers will be a complete guess. Guessing or rolling dice isn't exactly hard work.
As to having a button to anonymously request context, I remember Henry mentioning that having names attached to peer comments was a major step forward in terms of a solution-oriented process. By the same token, requesting context shouldn't be an anonymous process. Hence, I'd be in favor of a request context button, but with names attached to the request (Even if this reduces the odds of being rewarded the KudoZ points:))
| | | | Ian M-H (X)
United States
Local time: 06:00
German to English
+ ...
| context, context, context | May 10, 2005 |
Klaus Herrmann wrote:
questing context shouldn't be an anonymous process. Hence, I'd be in favor of a request context button, but with names attached to the request[/quote]
I agree, but isn't that in effect what already happens when we use "ask the asker" to request context?
Steffen Walter wrote:
there's no such thing as "no context"
That's just what I was poised to write before I saw Steffen's contribution. It's true that we often don't have enough *written* context in the documents we're working on, but we always know at least a little more about the context we're working in than the colleagues whose help we seek with a KudoZ question - even if, sometimes, it's little more than "this is from a list of mainly technical terms to be translated for a manufacturer of tamping wopples. The items immediately before and after may be unrelated but they are ABC and XYZ. The company is Finnish but my text is in English, possibly written by someone in their Hong Kong office"...
Cilian's suggestion is perhaps too radical, but I share his frustration.
| | | | Jaroslaw Michalak
Poland
Local time: 12:00
Member (2004)
English to Polish
TOPIC STARTER SITE LOCALIZER | Clarification, maybe? | May 10, 2005 |
Ian Harknett wrote:
I agree, but isn't that in effect what already happens when we use "ask the asker" to request context?
Yes, that is my point. As it is now, the responses are quite irregular: some askers are rebuked harshly, sarcasm levels are high, some questions are answered by "KudoZ catchers" anyway, although the question itself may be interpreted many different ways. On the other hand, those who stick to the KudoZ rules point out that it is not allowed to challenge the Asker directly and that all "inappropriate" questions should be pointed out to the moderators. I think we could benefit from a depersonalized, impartial system.
I want to make myself clear again: I don't want to have a system to "punish" the askers; this does not make sense. I just think that with automatic request the questions might be clarified more often, which would benefit the future searchers.
After reading some of the answers to this topic I would rather to rephrase the form of the request. It is true that the concept of "context" is ambiguous in itself; therefore it might be better to send a "request for clarification". This might be better as:
a) it might encourage the asker not only to supply more context he or she may have, but maybe to rephrase the question or to give more explanations, not necessarily based directly on the translated text (as it was pointed above, "context" is much more than just the text around the phrase)
b) if the clarification is not provided, the question might be tagged as "ambiguous"; this would be useful for the future searchers, as they would be alarmed that there might be more ways to translate the term or the phrase (yes, yes, I know that almost _any_ phrase may be translated in many different ways; I just think some questions are much more ambiguous than others)
Of course, we might just settle for the typical "ask the asker" approach.
[Edited at 2005-05-10 13:13]
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