Getting Started with Terminology

Determining the Goal

Sometimes, though, you get the vague feeling that it might be time to take care of your terminology. But what exactly the terminology is supposed to achieve remains an open question. Not all terminology is created equal. Depending on its intended purpose, the terminology database will look very different, require more or less effort, and have a different type and number of entries. Typical goals of terminology work include improving the translation process, knowledge management, or increasing document quality. Depending on the company, however, a variety of other goals are conceivable.

Finding the Source

Every company deals with terminology – just not always systematically. In other words, there is bound to be some terminology somewhere in your organization already. It might be in the form of an Excel list, as designations in your instructions, or perhaps as entries in the spare parts catalog. These sources must be identified and assessed according to their quality. What is already binding anyway and can (possibly with amendments) go directly into the terminology database? What is a source in which various term candidates are collected? Where can you find spellings that should no longer be used in the future? Incidentally, when searching for terminology sources, the problem is usually not finding suitable ones, but narrowing down the most appropriate ones from the vast number of sources. If in doubt, start with fewer sources and add new ones over time.

In the Interest of Everyone

Terminology affects many departments and process roles in a company. These stakeholders must be brought together to ensure that all interests are represented. Those involved typically come together in a terminology circle. However, in the worst-case scenario, this can result in this group becoming too large and thus no longer being fit for purpose. A good solution here can be to define a small circle of two to three people, who prepare term candidates for proposal and then have them voted on in a larger term circle that meets less frequently.

Selecting the Tool

Parallel to developing the term circle, it is important to find a suitable software solution. To begin with, you will usually want to keep the costs and effort involved to a minimum. A company will often already have translation tools that offer terminology functionalities. Many CCMS solutions also have a terminology component built in. In the worst-case scenario, quite a lot can be achieved with just a well-structured Excel file. All that matters is that the initial solution supports the goals of the terminology work and does not obstruct the path to a more powerful solution later on.

Determining the Process

You should start thinking about the terminology process at the latest once the term circle is in place and a software solution has been found. How are term candidates reported? Who decides on a term and how? What are the naming conventions? How do colleagues find out about terminology (and undesired terms)? Where can the terms be looked up? These and many other questions need to be answered for terminology to really hit its stride. You should record the answers you find to these questions in terminology guidelines. Without guidelines, it is easy to forget what has been agreed.

Measuring Success

Last but not least, you ought to consider how to measure the success of your terminology work. Of course, this is strongly related to your goals. Is it the number of error-free documents? The number of queries during translation? The number of times the term database is called up? Depending on the situation, you might use other indicators, but not measuring is not a solution. Without sensible indicators, you will never know if and where you need to take countermeasures in your terminology work, nor will others find out how successful and useful your terminology work actually is.