Jody Byrne (academic)

Dr Jody Byrne is an Irish translation scholar and translator who specialises in scientific and technical translation from German and Spanish into English. He is best known as the author of Technical Translation: Usability Strategies for Translating Technical Documents (Springer, 2006)^[1] and Scientific and Technical Translation Explained (St Jerome, 2012).^[2] Byrne taught German translation at Dublin City University and was a Lecturer in Translation Studies & Localisation at the University of Sheffield. While at Dublin City University he became interested in scientific and technical translation and he subsequently went on to conduct doctoral research involving human cognition and the usability of translated software user guides.^[3] He has published on a range of topics including technical translation, professional translation, technical communication and translation pedagogy.

He gained a BA in German and Spanish translation from Dublin City University in 1997 and has worked as a professional translator ever since, combining this with work as a technical writer, instructional designer, researcher and lecturer. In 2001 he returned to Dublin City University to pursue a PhD in technical communication and usability and graduated in 2004. In 2005 he joined the University of Sheffield where he taught subjects such as specialised translation, localisation, translation technology, translation theory, subtitling and research methodology.

Externally he is a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Specialised Translation^[4] and Connexions^[5] and was re-elected to the Executive Committee of the Irish Translators' & Interpreters' Association in 2011 having previously served on the committee from 2002-2005.^[6]

Publications (incomplete)

• 2012 [Book] Scientific and Technical Translation Explained: A Nuts and Bolts Guide for Beginners. Manchester: St Jerome Publishing, pp. 230^[7]
• 2010 Are technical translators writing themselves out of existence? Ian Kemble (ed.) (2010) The Translator as Writer. Portsmouth: University of Portsmouth, pp. 14–27.^[8]
• 2008 Learning Technology in the Translation Classroom. Proceedings of the XVIII FIT World Congress 2008
• 2007 Caveat Translator: Understanding the Legal Consequences of Errors in Professional Translation. Journal of Specialised Translation, 2007 (7) pp. 2–24^[9]
• 2006 [Book] Technical Translation: Usability Strategies for Translating Technical Documentation. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer
• 2005 Evaluating The Effect of Iconic Linkage on the Usability of Software User Guides. The Journal of Technical Writing & Communication. 35:2, pp. 155–178
• 2004 Does Usability Have to be so Complicated? The Communicator. The Institute of Scientific & Technical Communicators. Winter 2004, pp. 20–21^[10]
• 2003 Freelance Translation: Teaching Students to Create Their Own Jobs. Daniel Gouadec & Daniel Toudic (eds) Traduction, Terminologie, Rédaction. Paris: La Maison du Dictionnaire, pp. 161–174^[11]
• 2001 [Book] The Book of Zope: How to Build and Deliver Web Applications. Translated from German original ZOPE (Beehive, 2001) and published by No Starch Inc., San Francisco.^[12]
• 1999 International English: Making A Case for Efficient and Clear Communication. ATA Chronicle, Vol. XXVIII, No. 10: American Translators' Association, pp. 37–42^[13]

Memberships

• Professional Member of the Irish Translators' & Interpreters Association
• Fellow of the Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators

External links

• Video interview given to Journal of Specialised Translation
• Jody Byrne's website

References