Post on 04-Feb-2022
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Real-World Terminology Management
Sue Ellen WrightKent State University
Terminology Summer School
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Acronyms
TMM=Terminology ManagementTWF=Terminology WorkflowKOS=Knowledge Organization SystemSKOS=Simple KOSOWL=Web Ontology Language
i18n=InternationalizationQA=Quality AssuranceSL=Source LanguageTL=Target LanguageISO=International Organization for StandardizationROI = Return on Investment
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Terminology Management Spectrum
Continuum of practice in a range defined by multiple factors:
Enterprise type and missionCriticality of terminology for core businessCriticality of quality and branding concernsRecognition of tangible and intangible ROITerminology user groupsBuy-in by stakeholders (design, engineering, marketing, as well as client & in-country partners, but above all, top-level management)
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Enterprise Type
Nature of enterpriseGovernmentIndustryResearch institutesLocalization/translation bureaus
Nature of the clientText typeNegotiated client/vendor agreements
Web content management providersFreelance & in-house technical writers, translatorsLibrarians & knowledge organization environments
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TMM Mission & Strategic Position
Support for national language policySupport for global enterprise activitySupport for technical writing & translation
Ongoing, stable subject fieldsFrequent one-off, unrelated, unanticipated subject fields
TMM approachesPrescriptive vs. descriptiveAd hoc vs. systematic
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TWF Task Issues
Specific task typesLanguage planning StandardizationDocument productionControlled language document productionActivity in localization & multilingual documentation environmentsSupport for machine vs. human-oriented translationContent management in dynamically changing Web environmentsTerminology management for enterprise solutions (whatever that is)
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Knowledge-oriented TWF
Enterprise-related information and knowledge management
Terminology as a function of taxonomy, ontology, and information retrieval (knowledge organization systems: KOS)KOS interaction with:
Monolingual technical writing & product developmentTranslation and localizationMultilingual technical writingE-business solutionsInventory control and logisticsGeneral information retrieval and processingStandards issues (SKOS and OWL)
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Cost Effectiveness:
Terminology management activity costs time and money. Is it economically feasible:
For individual translators?For groups working together?For bureaus and translation services in government and industry?
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Criticality of Terminology
Potential for market lossesPotential for communicative losses Risk of product failure, human injuryAdverse effects on branding efforts (marketing issues)Relative significance of terminology
To the processTo the productExample: Terminology is more criticalif you are selling software than if youare selling wheat.
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ROI: Variable vs. Fixed Costs
TMM tasks hidden in general overheadCost of not agreeing to uniform terminology hidden in overhead costsCosts of correcting mistakes or recouping damage to branding difficult to documentCompounded costs due to the persistence of defective communications
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Fixed Costs
The costs of doing systematic terminology work, on the other hand, are up front costs that can be calculated usingtraditional means.
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Calculating Return on Investment
Greater general applicability of specific terminological units (greater frequency) = greater the return on terminology management costs. Greater the quality, safety, or competition-related criticality = greater the return.The greater the degree of integration between straight CAT, TM and MT applications, the greater the payback in leverageable data.
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Terminology Management Spectrum
These factors result in varying:Integrated and non-integrated workflow modelsComplexity with respect to the data model Investment of human resources in the form of
Term extractionContext documentationConcept definition (ideally by SL & TL subject experts)Terminology product delivery
– On-screen lookup– Web-based resources– Hard-copy output
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Complexity of Data Model
A continuum of practice in a range defined by:Creation of non-systematic tab-delimited, text and job-oriented glossaries and spreadsheets
SL term + TL term + POS, Gender, and/or a note
Theoretically rich complex entry input modelsSubject field classificationClient designationConcept-oriented definitionSL term + TL term + POS + Term Type + Register + Context, etc.Documentation through source citations, graphics, etc.
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Excel Spreadsheet Glossary
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Highly Granular Input Model
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What is workflow?
Workflow is the operational aspect of a work procedure:
how tasks are structuredwhat their relative order ishow they are synchronizedwho performs them (& where)how information flows to support the tasks and how tasks are being tracked
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workflow
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Macrostructures & Task Structures
Terminology workflow (TWF) as a task-set in overall enterprise workflowTerminology management (TMM) mission within the enterpriseWorkflow parametersTask issuesInput issues
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Evolving Workflow Models
TWF as non-detailed item in overall workflowTWF plotted as task set during project planningTWF plotted independently for individual projectsTWF plotted for ongoing activities involving ongoing global TMMProject-oriented workflow vs. ongoing global enterprise-related terminology management
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Critical Workflow Parameters
Dimensions:Tasks (activities)
Time–How much time does it take?–How much time do you have?
ThroughputResources
HumanTools“Raw Materials”
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Critical Workflow Parameters
Dimensions:Cost accounting as a function of workflow management
Difficult to calculate because of individual task differencesBalance between intensity & granularity of TMM vs. the investment costs incurred for “doing” TMMBalance between investment and incidence of reuseBalance between investment and criticality of terminological accuracy
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Project Inputs
Raw source textFrequently flawed (particularly in localization environments)Subject to ambiguity: polysemy, synonymyTerm extraction from the source text
Human or automatic term recognitionSynonym identification and disambiguationCo-occurrence issues with advanced automatic indexing software
Determining target language equivalentsVerification issues as a function of workflow
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Ordering and Synchronization
Traditional TMM workflow positionRationalized workflow positionGlobal TMM solutionsSystematic TMMInformation feedback loop
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Traditional Position of Terminology Management (TMM) in Global Project Workflow
Ad hoc TMMReactive project-specific TMMNo influence on document production, i18n
End-ItemInspection
TerminologyManagement
Workflow diagram ©Keiran Dunne 2005
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TerminologyManagement
Rationalized Project-Oriented TMM
TMM as a function of QA (Quality Assurance) managementTMM and QA upstreamed to planning stageProactive TMM
Workflow diagram ©Keiran Dunne 2005
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Global Enterprise Terminology Management Solutions
CorpusManagement
Corpus Generation & Maintenance
TerminologyExtraction
Term Proposal
TerminologyManagement
Input
Modification
Check
Verification
Approval
Origination
Publication
Suggestion
Etc.
Use
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Terminology Management Transactions (ISO 12620)
Proposal of a term / extraction of a termOrigination: creation of a term entryInput: data inputModification: update and changeCheck by terminologist Verification by subject field expertsApprovalWithdrawal“Publication”Use “in the field”Modification suggestions(Standardization and language planning)
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Task Definitions
Origination: entry creationInput: population of data fieldsModification: update & correctionCheck: terminology checkVerification: subject field check (in-country reviewer?)Approval: sign-off by chief terminologistPublication: importation into master database, upload to Web, Internet, intranet, LAN, hardcopy, etc.
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Systematic Term Management for Collections of Controlled Size
CorpusManagement
Corpus Selection
Concept Identification
Concept Selection
TerminologyManagement
DefinitionCreation
Entry Creation(see previous)
TermAssignment
Term StatusAssignment
ConceptSystem
TermCreation
Language Planning
Prescriptive Terminology
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Dynamic Systematic Management for Large Collections
CorpusManagement
Corpus Collectionand/or Selection
Term/Concept Identification
Concept Field Analysis
TerminologyManagement
DefinitionCreation
Entry Creation(see previous)
TermAssignment
Term StatusAssignment
ConceptPositioning
TermCreation
DynamicKOS generation
KOS=Knowledge Organization System
OntologyLink
Ontology
(optional)
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Information Feedback Loop
ProjectPost Mortem
Reviewer Corrections
SuggestionReceipt
TerminologistUpdate
Procedure
Master TDBPublished
TDB
User Suggestions
Research
Verification
Approval
UpdateData Entry
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Who Does What
Project developers (engineers, designers, other subject experts)
Terminological inconsistenciesUncontrolled coinage of neologisms
Terminology project group representativeTechnical writers
Frequently unaware of multilingual issuesLanguage specific problems
TranslatorsKnowledge engineersTerminologists
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Who Does what
Master terminologistAuthority to change records in master fileAuthority for final approval
Language-specific terminologistSource and target language research
Data input specialistSubject-field specialist
Source languageTarget language
Conflation and expansion of tasks according to need
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Where do they do it?
Workflow solutions and application design dependent on work group configurations:
Individual terminologist in one locationSmall work groupSingle local work groupLarger distributed networkMultilingual globally distributed network
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Publication, Dissemination and Access
Local master terminology databaseWeb-based terminology resource
Web-serverEnterprise-based IntranetLAN server
Exportation to other TDB environmentsHardcopy
Special project sub-setting
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Special Outputs
Project-specific term entry subsetting and exportation (electronic)Selective subset delivery, especially to freelance developers, tech writers, and translatorsOutput of SL TL glosses in hard copy
For subject area specialists in multilingual environmentsFor interpreters
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Delivery to Technical Writers and Translators
Translators: search for equivalent terms based on source language terms and conceptsTechnical writers: search for source language terms based on developers’ concepts
Frequently flawedFrequently newly coined terms and concepts
Delivery to and buy-in from technical writers is very difficult to achieve.
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Solutions for Technical Writers and Program Developers
Ontology-enabled terminology deliveryStyle sheetsAutomatic term use checkersIssues:
Resistance to synonymy controlCoinage of translation-unfriendly termsCoinage of “cute” unmotivated terms
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Translation-oriented Solutions
Terminology database integrated with translation memory and text production softwareConcordance features for access to terms in contextMultiple layers of information
Data category subsetting for rapid information retrievalOptional view of full terminological entries
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Tracking Issues
Workflow-related database design issuesTransaction-related data categories
Terminology transactionResponsibilityDateAuthorizationsTask-related check-offsOutput and sort-related categoriesImport / export trackingVersion tracking
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Computer-mediated Workflow Management Systems
SDL WorkFlow Service™Trados Global Content Management™Star Translation Workflow Server™Lionstream Workflow™LTC Organiser Multilingual Management and Workflow Control Software System™
Non-exhaustive list!
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For More Information
Sue Ellen WrightInstitute for Applied LinguisticsKent State University109 Satterfield HallKent, Ohio 44242, USA
sellenwright@gmail.com