LISA Terminology Survey Results (2001)

Summary Report by Kara Warburton, LISA Terminology SIG.

Results

LISA is pleased to announce that the results of the LISA Terminology Survey are now available to LISA members.

Conducted by Kara Warburton, LISA Terminology Advisor, this survey gathered information about the methods, tools, and practices for managing terminology in the localization industry. Over 800 representatives from a range of industry sectors were invited to participate and 75 responses were received.

Findings

The following are some of the highlights of the report. Members are encouraged to read the full report for complete details about how terminology management supports localization.

There is a general agreement that proactively managing terminology is beneficial for the localization process. Many respondents reported that it is absolutely essential. Improved quality is the greatest benefit, followed by productivity gains, cost savings, and increased competitive edge.

The majority of responding organizations that actively manage terminology have a terminology database (termbase). Organizations that have a termbase perform more proactive terminology management and are more sophisticated users of language processing tools in general. They maximize productivity by automating as many tasks as possible. They are more likely to exchange terminology both within and outside of their organization and they are better equipped to provide terminology to users in custom formats.

A frequent complaint is that language processing tools are not well integrated and interoperable. Terminology databases, translation memory systems, controlled English systems, machine translation systems, and so forth, lack seamless integration that would increase productivity among translators, terminologists, and other workers. Tools for terminology extraction, terminology consistency checking, and translation workflow are needed. Few respondents use such tools and many requested them.

Termbases should be well-planned. The different core technologies and tools available should be fully researched before a terminology management system is adopted. The needs of the end users of the terminology information should dictate the types of terminology data categories, the term selection criteria, the distribution mechanisms, and so forth. For localization purposes, for example, including a context is even more important than including a definition. And data categories such as subject fields, subset values, product/project identifiers, and customer identifiers, are extremely important to serve business purposes.

Organizations that are directly involved in localization (such as translation providers) are more aware of the importance of terminology management and the demands for producing high-quality terminology than organizations that are only indirectly involved in localization (such as clients of translation services). To achieve the highest quality terminology in products, both suppliers and clients need to collaborate. Both clients and suppliers will benefit by improving terminology use in source materials.

The availability of industry standard terminology should be increased. Many companies are protective of their terminology and prohibit its distribution. This results in a proliferation of company-specific jargon that only inhibits localization. Sharing terminology across an industry increases consistency and reduces localization effort.

Respondents who perform terminology work face many challenges, the greatest being simply coping with tight budgets, resources, and schedules. They must justify the need for terminology management to corporate executives; yet virtually none of the respondents can calculate a return on investment due to a lack of available data. Both translators and terminologists struggle to achieve terminology consistency in an environment where there is a reluctance to share terminology. Terminologists would benefit from further education in three main areas: technical skills, terminology principles, and project management.

Respondents provided a wish-list for improvements to localization tools. Among the desired features are improved integration of tools and better Web interfaces, statistics reporting, and housekeeping functions. Read the full report for details.

Raising awareness of the benefits of terminology management will help promote its acceptance as an important component of the localization process and thereby foster positive change in this area. It is hoped that this survey will help achieve that objective.

Full Report

The full report is available to LISA members here.