The LISA Terminology Survey was released in 2001 and provided some detailed indicators about how the localization industry manages terminology. The members of the LISA Terminology Special Interest Group (SIG) determined that practical guidelines on some common threads of interest would help further the development of terminology best practices in a meaningful way. We decided to conduct a comparative study of practices to identify trends in terminology management and to discover what worked best within our own companies. This fact-finding mission would lay the groundwork for the eventual development of a terminology “cookbook.”

We pooled our resources and shared the tasks. IBM arranged regular teleconferences, and SAP generously hosted a working dinner at the LISA Forum in Heidelberg in November 2002 so that we could actually meet each other face-to-face. LISA provided administrative support, Web space and a discussion bulletin board. Xerox and J.D. Edwards led the research on “tools” and “costs,” while IBM took “data categories” and Medtronic handled “organizational structure.” Our first summary report, Terminology Management - A Comparative Study of Costs, Data Categories, Tools, and Organizational Structure, will be available in early July.

Eight companies were surveyed: Cisco Systems, J.D. Edwards, Medtronic, Xerox, IBM, SDL, SAP and Oracle. All fit the profile of large companies that manage terminology in a systematic fashion. The survey questions were developed with input from all SIG members. The report summarizes the responses and identifies trends, rather than drawing sweeping conclusions about best practices; the SIG will need more time to turn this material into a cookbook. We invite and encourage your feedback to help us. Three additional topics will be researched in the next phase: terminology workflow, business processes, and quality objectives and measurements.

Terminology SIG members have been active on several fronts. In Heidelberg, Laurie Kamerer from Cisco Systems spoke candidly about her experiences in defining that company’s terminology requirements. Her presentation must have touched a chord - it was rated the highest by forum attendees! Paolo Vanni from J.D. Edwards presented a topic that, according to the findings of the LISA Terminology Survey, is most challenging for terminologists: determining the return on investment of terminology management. IBM published an article on its Web site, “How managing terminology helps you develop global applications”. Ulrich Wachowius of SDL is currently Secretary of the European J2450 task force, which recently defined standard metrics for measuring translation quality in service materials. This metric defines “wrong term” as the most serious translation error. Initial tests of the metric in the automotive industry show that 45 percent of translation errors are in this category.

The SIG also conducted a brief poll in October 2002 on the LISA Web site about terminology exchange. There were 185 responses, vastly exceeding our expectations. And the findings were eye-opening: 83% of respondents needed to exchange terminology, while the same number expressed a requirement for a standard exchange format. Yet, surprisingly, 75% were unaware of TBX, the existing terminology exchange format that was developed through LISA’s standards SIG, OSCAR. Clearly, there is a gap between the needs and the knowledge about terminology exchange. The message was loud and clear: we need to increase awareness about TBX.

The SIG is currently exploring other opportunities to support potential users of TBX, while maintaining an open dialog with OSCAR and other standards groups, such as OASIS and the OLIF Consortium. As an example, the SIG provided a training session on terminology and TBX at the LISA Forum in Heidelberg. Our Xerox member, Raphael Prono, has contacted Alan Melby, the LISA OSCAR member responsible for TBX, to obtain technical guidance on implementing TBX for a pilot project.

Another opportunity may exist with IBM’s internal terminology markup format that is based on a previous related markup standard, TIF (Terminology Interchange Format). Publishing samples of TIF data on the LISA Web site could provide practical markup examples that may shed light on the potential uses of TBX and trigger further interest.

The next stage is to take the results of the comparative study and turn them into practical guidelines to aid companies that want to initiate a systematic terminology management effort, thus creating the first chapter of our “cookbook.” We invite other organizations to review the comparative study and send us feedback on any of the topics covered. This will help us to broaden the scope of the study and thereby provide more value to the localization industry at large.

Kara Warburton is responsible for defining IBM's terminology strategy, including tools, processes, and data management. Her primary goal is to extend the focus of terminology management from translation to content management. She is also a published author and public speaker on the subject.

Kara is a Canadian delegate to ISO TC 37, which defines ISO terminology standards, and the IBM representative on OSCAR. She holds a Master's degree in Terminology from Université Laval and has held positions as translator, information developer and university professor. Kara can be reached at kara@ca.ibm.com.