[caption id="attachment_14863" align="alignleft" width="388"]
Can you proofread in Cyrillic? Will Stuivenga can!
Image
[caption id="attachment_14863" align="alignleft" width="388"]
The Anytime Library in Russian[/caption]
Part of Will’s job involves managing the Washington Anytime Library, a collection of eBooks and eAudiobooks shared by 43 of the smaller libraries throughout the state. Recently they added a Russian language interface to the digital library. Now patrons can choose to have the Anytime Library menus and instructions appear in English, Spanish, Chinese, or Russian. The books are still in English (for the most part), but the interface that helps you find them can be displayed in these other languages for the convenience of patrons who are more comfortable using them.
Checking out the new Russian language interface, Will noticed that the language interface selection box options were capitalized for English and Spanish (don’t ask him about the Chinese!), but not for the Russian, which uses the Cyrillic script. Uncertain if Cyrillic uses the same capitalization conventions as the Roman script used for English and Spanish, Will took a look at the rest of the Russian interface, and sure enough, he saw that the first character of most words was larger than those used for the rest of the word, but perhaps there was some exception to the rule for the word “Russian” itself when displayed in Cyrillic?
So he wrote back to the vendor rep and asked, who promised to check with the translation team. By the next day, the interface had been updated to show the word “Russian” in Cyrillic with the first character capitalized. So yes, Will can proof-read (albeit to a VERY limited extent) even for Russian Cyrillic!
Image
The Washington Office of the Secretary of State’s blog provides from-the-source information about important state news and public services.
This space acts as a bridge between the public and Secretary Steve Hobbs and his staff, and we invite you to contribute often to the conversation here.
The comments and opinions expressed by users of this blog are theirs alone and do not reflect the opinions of the Secretary of State’s Office or its employees. The agency screens all comments in accordance with the Secretary of State’s blog use policy, and only those that comply with that policy will be approved and posted. Outside comments will not be edited by the agency.