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The Case for Terminology Management
 
Keywords
terminology management, termbase, terminology database, multilingual terminology management, terminologist

Abstract
To determine the value of terminology management, we interviewed individuals at 24 organizations in Europe and North America. Some participants oversee databases with a few thousand terms; others manage in excess of a million.

We talked with veterans who have formally managed terminology since the early 1970s, as well as companies with nascent efforts. Our interviews included both organizations that employ dozens of full-time in-house terminologists and lexicographers as well as firms that outsource all terminology management to language service providers (LSPs). We talked to individuals whose term databases include 80 languages and those who manage terminology in just one.
  • Planting. We asked interviewees why their organizations began paying attention to terminology management, which signals made them realize that terminology management was needed, who typically championed these efforts, and how they made the case internally.
  • Fertilization. We inquired about the factors required to make terminology management a success, the processes and participants involved, tools employed to facilitate the work, organization of the database, documentation of instructions, formal workflows, communication mechanisms, engagement strategies, and integration with other processes.
     
  • Harvest. We invited participants to tell us about the benefits of terminology management; specifically, who benefits most, what changes they observed, how they measure return on investment (ROI), lessons learned, and whether or not terminology management is a worthwhile endeavor.
Our interviewees spanned a wide range of industries, including government bodies, financial institutions, automotive manufacturers, health care organizations, pharmaceutical companies, telecommunications providers, travel and leisure firms, as well as high-tech and software vendors.
 

Benefits
In General:  This report introduces readers to the fundamental issues of terminology management: why it's important, the implications of not doing it, and the best practices.
 
For Buyers:  Translation and localization practitioners will learn about the major issues that they will face as they undertake more formal terminology management. Planners will understand the value of improved term handling across their global content cycles.
 
For Suppliers:  Language service providers will learn about the issues that their terminology clients face and see opportunities for new business offerings around better term management.
 

Physical Details
Authors: Nataly Kelly and Donald A. DePalma
Date: 26 February 2009
ISBN: 978-1-933555-62-1
Pages: 27

Table of Contents
  • Topic
    • Terminology Management and Why It Matters
      • Research Methodology
      • What You Will and Won’t Find in This Report
    • Earlier Research on Terminology Management
    • A Note on the Terms of the Terminology Trade
  • Vox Populi
    • What Drives Organizations to Formalize Terminology Management
      • As Businesses Grow, Terms Proliferate
      • Agreeing to Disagree Isn’t an Option with Terminology
      • Even Monolingual Terminology Consistency Poses Challenges
      • Terminology Clarified Today Saves Money Tomorrow
    • Managing Terminology Offers More Benefits than Meet the Eye
      • Eliminating Guesswork Saves Time for All Involved
      • Quality Improvement Begins at the Source
      • Review Processes Become Less Painful
      • Translation Project Costs Decrease
    • The Importance of Buy-In from Other Stakeholders
      • Terminology Management Requires Ardent Supporters
      • End-User Training and Documentation Are Absolute Necessities
    • Key Findings regarding the Current State of Terminology Management
      • Formal Measurement of Return on Investment Remains a Luxury
      • Bigger Is Not Always Better – Minimize the Initial Number of Records
      • Termbases with Diverse User Groups Require Multiple Access Levels
      • Building Terminology Databases Requires Focus
      • Periodic Updates Are the Norm
    • Technology for Managing Terminology Is Better, But Far from Perfect
      • Integration Still Leaves Much to Be Desired
      • Be Prepared to Deal with Technology Challenges
      • Some Firms Wrongly Re-purpose Translation Memory for Terminology
    • Conclusions from Our Conversations with Terminologists
  • Analysis
    • Typical Phases of Corporate Terminology Management Initiatives
      • Step 1: Make the Case
      • Step 2: Take the Case to Internal Supporters
      • Step 3: Develop and Document the Process
      • Step 4: Obtain and Deploy Technology
      • Step 5: Integrate with Other Processes
      • Step 6: Continue Investing
  • Implications
    • For Global Companies, Terminology is Not a Matter of “If,” but “When”
  • Figures
    • Figure 1: One Concept, Forty Terms for Popcorn in Spanish
    • Figure 2: Downstream Implications of Terminology Errors
    • Figure 3: Minimal Process Integration Means Multiple Tools for Terminology
  • Tables
    • Table 1: Basic Set-up Considerations for Terminology Databases
    • Table 2: Methods of Measuring the ROI of Terminology Management
    • Table 3: Typical Terminology Database Fields and Metadata Categories
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