Translators must often be faced with the need to find information quickly and that information might be extremely varied in content. Standard reference books may be on hand, but are they up-to-date and can they always satisfactorily answer the information request? (J. A. Large, 57)
The Internet offers vast resources for an information seeker, but the amount of data can be rather overwhelming. As the Net has grown without control, it tends to be quite disorganised and therefore specific information can be difficult to find. Often the information found in the Net is up-to-date and can be reached relatively quickly, regardless of the country where the source resides.
I found hardly any material on the field of translating and searching for information, and I wondered whether this subject was too pragmatic. All the books I found about the Internet were of the 'tips and tricks' kind. Therefore, I decided to conduct a survey and collect information from professional translators who use the Internet. All the translators who answered my questionnaire wanted to receive this paper (See Appendix 1, question 0), and so did two people who did not want to answer. It may indicate that further research in this field would be welcome.
This paper offers a little peek into the working habits of some Internet-literate translators, as well as an introduction to some Net resources currently available. As can be seen, the Internet not only offers vast information resources, but job offers, work file transferring facilities, entertainment, pleasurable encounters, and sometimes grey hair as a result of technical or human problems.