Tomedes Supports Scientific Research and Innovation Through Transcription

Transcription services are useful to businesses working across a wide range of industries. Tomedes recently provided support to a global science and technology publishing company in the form of video transcription in Japanese.

As a language services provider working with clients around the world, Tomedes’ expertise goes beyond translation services to include everything from localization to interpreting. In this instance, our client needed a video transcription service. We were delighted to be able to assist.

The Challenge of Japanese Transcription

The client is a global business that publishes scientific research through a range of platforms and initiatives. Communication and creation are at the heart of the business, with these reflected in the way that it approaches the dissemination and publication of research documents. The overarching goal is empowerment and innovation that makes science accessible globally. As such, the quality of published materials is paramount.

This is where Tomedes’ transcription service came in. The client stated that they wanted a premium transcription service, with timestamps throughout. They did not need subtitling or translation services on this occasion, though we are happy to provide those when required.

The client sent us the video file for review, and we got to work finding a top-class Japanese transcriptionist.

Why Tomedes Was the Right Choice for Transcription Services

There are roughly 128 million Japanese speakers spread around the world, largely concentrated in Japan, as well as in a number of Japanese islands and as far afield as Brazil, Hawaii, South Korea, Taiwan, and the US. Japanese is written using kanji, kana, and Japanese braille. This client needed the transcription in kanji. With a huge network of transcription professionals spread around the globe, including many Japanese transcriptionists, this didn’t present a problem for the Tomedes team. This widespread network was one of the reasons that the client chose to work with Tomedes for its video transcription.

Tomedes provides both audiovisual translation and transcription services. This client had a video file containing detailed scientific information, which it needed to publish on one of its platforms, accompanied by a full transcription. This is where Tomedes shines – our transcriptionists’ experience spans a range of sectors, so that we can provide the right professionals to work with specialist content. This is key to delivering accurate transcription services. It means we can prioritize quality for each and every client.

Answering the Call for Innovation in the Sciences

Tomedes is an experienced provider of language and translation services for academia, so we were easily able to find a suitably skilled transcriptionist for this work. Video transcription requires the individual undertaking the work to have exceptional attention to detail, as well as the ability to type fast. The work is undertaken using a foot pedal to stop and start the video file, while the transcriptionist types the content. They indicate who is speaking in the copy and timestamp it in relation to the original video file.

This client had asked for edited transcription, rather than verbatim transcription. That meant our transcriptionist didn’t have to include every “um” and “er” and throat-clearing sound that was present in the video, but otherwise had to preserve the language without paraphrasing it (transcription that includes paraphrasing and summarizing is known as intelligent transcription).

With quality as her top priority, our transcriptionist got to work. She worked carefully through the video content, using her experience of working on scientific documents to ensure the transcription was word-perfect.

This attention to relevant sector-specific expertise is something that can be seen across the board in Tomedes’ translation and localization services, as it is a fundamental part of our professional offering. It’s why so many businesses have trusted us with their language projects over the years.

The Outcome: Sharing Scientific Research Through Transcription

By using Tomedes’ video transcription service, the client was able to progress a part of its important work sharing scientific research with audiences around the globe. There is no room for error in such work, which is why the client was so pleased with the quality of the Japanese transcription that Tomedes provided. Our transcriptionist mastered the complex scientific terminology of the video, conveying it carefully into written form, in the file type the client required (we can work with a wide range of file types, to ensure we meet the needs of our diverse global client base). 

The client is now continuing its important work in making science more accessible, safe in the knowledge that it has a reliable, professional source of transcription available for its work in multiple languages. We have also discussed the potential of technical translation with the client, with a view to using this to share their work more widely with global audiences. In this way, Tomedes is supporting and empowering the client to pursue its mission to publish and promote valuable scientific insights from around the globe.