Getting started with a seminar on terminology for PhD candidates: Resources
Q: How can I get in touch with people actively involved in terminology in my country?
A: Check for a national association for terminology
Through the website of the European Association for Terminology (EAFT), you can find contact
information
for
National
Associations
for
Terminology,
at
http://www.eaftaet.net/en/membership/institutional-members/ (Spain, Portugal, Italy, Netherlands, France,
Estonia, Slovenia, Greece are members. There must be other European Associations but it is
difficult to tell because the name of the association is in the respective language.)
Q: Is there any material I can use as reference?
A: ISO terminology standards are one possibility or, if available, their counterparts in national
languages
Standards on terminology by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) can be
acquired through the website of ISO (www.iso.org) or by the national organizations for
standardization. (A note of caution: standards can be very pricey.) To find contact information
for a national organization for standardization, go to:
http://www.iso.org/iso/about/iso_members.htm
Also through the national organizations you will find out whether an ISO standard has been
issued in the respective national language(s).
Q: Which ISO standards are particularly relevant to terminology?
A: ISO has a technical committee for terminology, TC37. TC37 has issued some key standards
on terminology principles and methods that can be used as reference. These are:
ISO 704:2000, Terminology work -- Principles and methods (EN or FR), currently under revision
(purchasing a downloadable file through ISO’s website costs 136 swiss francs, i.e., about 200
euros)
ISO 1087-1:2000, Terminology work -- Vocabulary -- Part 1: Theory and application (EN+FR),
currently under revision (downloadable for free on 12-3-2009)
For a full list of ISO standards on terminology principles and methods look at:
http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_tc_browse.htm?commid=48116
Q: How can I find ISO standards with glossaries relevant to my field?
A: You can always search using keywords. For a thorough search, you can search either by the
International Classification of Standards (ICS) or by Technical Committee (TC)
(http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue.htm). The latter is arranged under more meaningful
entries. For example, searching the products of Technical Committee 59 (Building
Construction), you will find Technical Committee TC59/ SC2, Terminology and harmonization of
languages, which has produced the following standard:
ISO 6707-1:2004 Building and civil engineering -- Vocabulary -- Part 1: General terms
Q: What about multilingual terminology databases publicly available?
A: The European Union supports IATE (InterActive Terminology for Europe) for all languages of
the member states, while national associations for terminology may have some domain-specific
databases available (usually bilingual or trilingual). IATE is available though: iate.europa.eu.
Multilingual resources are also available for specific disciplines, or themes, such as European
Environment Agency’s, General Multilingual Environmental Thesaurus (GEMET),
http://www.eionet.europa.eu/gemet/, which provides both alphabetical and hierarchical listings
of terms.
Multilingual resources are also available for specific languages plus English, possibly one or two
more languages. A couple examples are listed below.
Termium Plus, the Government of Canada’s terminology and linguistic databank provides terms
in English and French (sometimes also in Spanish) as well as definitions,
http://btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng
Resources are bound to exist in many languages, but most probably not in a central location.
For example, for the Greek language, searching the website of the Hellenic Society for
Terminology (www.eleto.gr), gives two databases with some relationship to civil engineering:
• Information Technology Term Base (EL/EN/FR) http://inforterm.cs.aueb.gr/
• Telecommunications Term Base (EL/EN/FR/DE) http://www.moto-teleterm.gr/
In addition, searching the website of the Technical Chamber of Greece, gives glossaries
(EL/EN) compiled by committees of the national standards body on a few thematic fields with
engineering interest, including building materials and concrete,
• http://portal.tee.gr/portal/page/portal/SCIENTIFIC_WORK/scient_typopoiisi/lexika
as well as a glossary of terms appearing in Eurocodes:
•http://portal.tee.gr/portal/page/portal/SCIENTIFIC_WORK/scient_typopoiisi/eurocodes/e
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Q: As an academic, I would feel more comfortable knowing where the state of art & research is
in Terminology. Any help?
A: The field of Terminology seems to be fragmented, between what seems to be the
prescriptive “orthodoxy” that prevails in standardization work and dissenting voices bringing
descriptive approaches from linguistics. It is difficult for someone with a science or engineering
training to tell whether this is a typical degree of the diversity expected in the humanities. In our
search, we have found the following international centers and publications:
• Infoterm, the International Information Centre for Terminology, was founded in 1971 by
contract with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),
with the objective to support and co-ordinate international co-operation in the field of
terminology.
http://www.infoterm.info/index.php
• TermNet, the International Network for Terminology, is an international co-operation forum
for companies, universities, institutions and associations who engage in the further development
of the global terminology market. TermNet was founded on the initiative of UNESCO, with the
aim to establish a network for co-operation in the field of terminology.
http://www.termnet.org/
• Terminology, an International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Issues in Specialized
Communication
http://www.benjamins.com/cgi-bin/t_seriesview.cgi?series=TERM
• The International Institute for Terminology Research IITF (Internationales Institut für
Terminologieforschung) also has a list of publications, including Terminology Science &
Research, an international scientific review that focuses on terminological research (which is
not easily available to non-members, however).
http://lipas.uwasa.fi/hut/svenska/iitf/publications.php