Requesting resources in the DBL be made available to translators in Paratext

Question

Reposting as a new , instead of a reply to an old one.

Is there a standard way to request new resources be added to Paratext, or to expand the orgs resources already in Paratext are available to?

I see a few resources in Korean in the DBL that are not in Paratext. And some are available in Paratext, but are restricted to specific organizations when it seems logical that they would be more widely available (i.e., to sub-orgs of already approved orgs). In this case, I’m curious if what happened is certain organizations were approved to use them, and then more organizations (or sub-organizations) were added…

We’ve had 2 different requests in the last few days regarding (additional) Korean resources.

For the resources that are not in Paratext: In the DBL, I can see that one is from Biblica, and they are now more involved in Paratext. And the other is from the Korean Bible Society, which has already approved 2 Korean resources for use in Paratext. Maybe those details would work in our favor? But then who is the best person to initiate contact with those orgs to request these changes?

The ones that are available in Paratext are available to some parent orgs, but not many (?) sub-orgs, which may just be an over-sight. Some examples are below: bolded orgs have access, non-bolded orgs to do not:

• SIL International
  • SIL Pacific Area
    • SIL PNG
      • SIL NE PNG
  • SIL Asia Mainland Area
    • Sub-group 1
    • Sub-group 2
  • CanIL

So part of this is a process question (what’s the best way to do this and who should initiate contact?), part of it is a specific question (would it be possible to make these Korean resources available/more widely available?).

Thanks,

james_post

Answer 1

When licensing resources in the DBL, it is up to every rightsholder to select the options they are comfortable with when sharing with Paratext users. Our preferred option by far is that they select the option to share with all vetted Bible translators and organizations. If they don’t choose that one, they can instead select the individual organizations they want. Not many have done this, but the ones that have are problematic because any new orgs we add are not selected. There is no hierarchy per se where permissions are concerned because the registration code to access resources is generated based on the identity of the selected org.

No solution is evident for the half dozen rights holders who have used selective licensing to Paratext. It would require reprogramming the registry and likely generating new codes for all users.

Your only option is to go through any channel you have to the rightsholder and request that their DBL curator selects the additional orgs, or that they trust us to share with all vetted translators.

Requests can be made through the DBL itself, but only by DBL card holders, and those requests won’t necessarily be seen by the person with the authority to make that decision. You can start with that if you wish by contacting you org’s DBL curator. Otherwise, lots of emails to the rightsholder to get their attention, maybe even starting a polite petition from all the users who want to use the new resource.

Sorry. In legal matters there is no switch that we can flip to solve these issues, it takes relationships and time. In the case of Korean, those wanting the use of these resources probably have closer connections to the rightsholder organization than the rest of us. Use your influence.