Dictionaries

We have India’s largest, most up-to-date collection of specialized dictionaries and reference books. This collection numbers over 2,500 and 10,000, respectively, and represents more than 30 languages. No public or private library or translation agency in India has assembled such a vast array of specialized dictionaries. As part of our mission to maintain our collection, we at Trans Infopreneur earmark a certain percentage of our annual sales for purchase of new dictionaries, software and other resources. It has taken several years (1997-2014) to amass the collection. The challenge was significant, as in late 1990s foreign currency was tightly regulated in India. Moreover, even with the emergence of the Internet various overseas publishers did not have complete details of their publications online. Only through the dedication and perseverance of Trans Infopreneur was such an achievement possible.

The procurement of dictionaries has been a fascinating process for us:

German

We procured German dictionaries directly from publishers such as Langenscheidt, Cornelsen and Brandstetter, and during our visits to the Frankfurt Book Fair and assorted German antiquarian bookstores.

French

We procured French dictionaries directly from La Maison du Dictionnaire in Paris, as well as through visits to book fairs in France. Surprisingly, La Maison offers a comprehensive English-Hindi dictionary (dating from the 1950s) that is not available even in India! It was an exhilarating experience to browse through La Maison’s basement collection of old dictionaries.

Dutch

We procured Dutch dictionaries directly from publishers and stores such as De Slegte, Intertaal, Scheltema and Kok’s, etc., during our regular visits to the Netherlands. It was always exciting to disembark the train in an important city, ask for directions to the nearest De Slegte store and then walk to our destination, which was usually located within a kilometer or so from the main station. We even established friendships with several of the store managers. Initially they were amazed that visitors from a far-off country like India would want to buy so many dictionaries in different languages. We had managed to empty the entire rack of dictionaries, when we bought more than 100 dictionaries (sold to the store by a local translation agency – Bothof) from the De Slegte store in Nijmegen!

We have a complete collection of Chemical Abstracts (the world’s largest collection of abstracts of literature concerning chemical and allied industries), covering the years 1907 through 1990. These comprise approximately 2000 heavy volumes and a total weight of several tons.

We use the abstracts to obtain technical information while translating patents and journal articles. We also compile bibliographies on any chemistry-related topic.

We have the complete set of standard references like:

• Kirk-Othmier Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 26 volumes.
• McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology, 20 volumes.
• Ullmann Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 28 volumes.
• Merck Index, Pesticide Manual, McGraw Hill and Academic Press Science and Technology encyclopedias etc.

Today we possess several thousand industry-standard handbooks, textbooks and manuals on various subjects. We augment our collection on a regular basis by sourcing references from countries around the world.