InterpretBank. Redefining computer-assisted interpreting tools

This paper presents InterpretBank, a computer-assisted interpreting tool developed to support conference interpreters during all phases of the interpreting process. The overall aim of the tool is to create an interpreter’s workstation which allows conference interpreters to optimize the workflow before, during and after the event they are called upon to interpret. The tool takes into consideration the specific needs of conference interpreters, such as the way they prepare for a conference, the modality of terminology access, and so forth. It also exploits the latest advances in computational linguistics, especially in the field of information retrieval and text mining, making use of the abundance of information available on the Web to provide interpreters with specialized information which can be used to increase the quality of interpreter performance. The paper also introduces some theoretical principles of the use of terminology tools in interpretation and the results of initial empirical experiments conducted with this software.