Terminology Management In Focus

Improving the quality of information and communication is a key focus for many organisations. One of the foundations of effective communication is terminology, which is the totality of brand names, technical terms, abbreviations and jargon that is specific to an organisation or industry. It is an area that is largely ill-defined and unnamed and the specifics are often learned on the job. By way of example, how you interpret the meaning of 'float' will depend very much on whether you are a web designer, a banker or a car mechanic, not to mention milkman or barman (root beer float, anyone?). However, how we interpret and understand a term is critical in the contemporary information world.

Information demands
Today, organisations are dealing with increasing, and potentially overwhelming, amounts of information. This excess of meaning is generated because of new needs for and means of creating and disseminating information across continents and languages. Externally, clients demand more and better information at shorter and shorter notice, requiring organisations to create yet more information and set up new systems and information delivery models. Another change factor is the development of new output channels, such as websites, FAQ overviews, helpdesk decision trees and intranets, which require new processes for information control, quality assurance and updating.

What is terminology management?
Terminology management procedures differ between organisations but, in essence, they comprise one or more of the following steps:

	Identification, definition and capture of terminology
	Translation and approval of terminology
	Dissemination and control of multilingual terminology information

Lack of terminology management
One public consequence of a lack of terminology management is the frequent faux pas to be found in brand names, where cultural aspects are not taken into account. For example, 'Fast' might be a product name for a high speed controller, but the marketing manager who came up with that might not be aware that in German this means 'almost'! And the liqueur 'Irish Mist' may not sell too well in Germany, where 'Mist' means 'manure'.
On a more serious note, and one that can directly affect the corporate balance sheet, is the confusion caused when spare parts, say, have different names or even part numbers within one organisation. The frustration of the reader of the user's guide is directly proportional to the loss of future revenue. Poorly managed translation may play a role here as well, but often the root problems can be traced back to the creation of the source text and to lack of terminology management. Getting it right the first time is the only approach for terminology management. The costs of changing terms or making them consistent retrospectively are considerable, having consequences for information, ranging from the user manual, maintenance manual, quickstart guide to the website and catalogue, and across different media such as PDF, hardcopy, help files, websites or databases.
Clearly, costs multiply considerably as a result of the wealth of information and the range of delivery methods. And yet these are often hidden costs, masked by the very lack of terminology management. It is difficult to measure something that is not there.

What are the benefits?
Getting it right first time is never the easiest or cheapest approach. So why try to get it right first time? First of all, terminology management allows global branding of products and messages. This provides focus for the business and its employees by driving home a uniform message. By affecting the entirety of an organisation's information base, terminology management fosters a culture of individual responsibility through employee buy-in to content development. Further, it supports the authoring process in that it requires authors' awareness of term identification and definition, and establishes a review process of source terminology and its translation, strengthening the uniformity of the message. Terminology management allows flexible projects within a larger organisation, for example tackling terminology problems experienced by a helpdesk or by the software development department. It provides a focus for rethinking the quality of an organisation's whole information process, and more importantly, how to measure that quality. It is tempting to advise organisations to start from scratch, implement an entirely new terminology management system and change their procedures completely. But reality teaches us that, no matter how attractive in theory, it is a route that they are unlikely to take. Rigid, centrally managed procedures cannot suit the individual needs of countries, divisions or people. Terminology management is complex, and trying to convert a complex set of needs into a simple solution is bound to fail.
Successful terminology management needs key management support and a number of well chosen initiatives to create success. One example of a well-chosen project is the creation of self-maintained, multilingual terminology databases for helpdesk personnel, enabling them to store and retrieve pragmatic terminology used in their everyday client interactions. Another example is multilingual terminology support for a new product marketing campaign; when built in from the start, this actually helps drive the global sales effort.

What about the risks?
An organisation-wide approach that focuses on individual needs at the same time will have to take certain risks into account, such as lack of adoption of the new process or system by the end-users, selection of the wrong software tool or changing business requirements. These risks are real and need to be addressed by extensive communication before, during and after the implementation of a new system. Whether it is terminology lists, a workflow system that manages terminology review, authoring tools or translation software, it is important that the user is not faced with a multitude of tools, and that information can be easily found, and feedback can be given. This level of buy-in, from managers as well as the terminology users, is key.

Focus areas
As terminology management involves the complete information process of any organisation and touches all departments and divisions, there are several areas that require attention. Focusing on these areas can bring measurable results within reasonable time frames.

	Authoring support — providing rules and guidelines for establishing what can be defined as a term, creation of definitions, providing context, usage labels and grammatical information
	Controlled language — creation of approved terminology sets for controlled authoring
	Terminology mining — the identification, description and capture in a system of terminology from monolingual or multilingual corpora
	Review — recruitment and/or training of in-country reviewers for translation of terminology
	Terminology tools — depending on the needs, there is a wide range of terminology tools available, from pen and paper, spreadsheets to integrated workflow systems
	Translation — providing translators with approved terminology, preferably stored in a database that will prompt correct usage

Conclusion
Focusing on terminology management is beneficial for most organisations. It highlights quality and stimulates involvement of all players in the organisation's information process. It can help reduce turnaround times for information creation and translation, bring about a consistent marketing and sales message and reduce costs through more streamlined processes, less rework and fewer demands on helpdesks. While the best approach may be organisation-wide, tangible benefits will come from individual projects that address and solve actual business issues.

For more information call us on +44 (0)1829 730050 or mail us. Contact: Jill Fifoot, Sales & Marketing Director.

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