European Centre for the
Development of Vocational Training
Thessaloniki, 8 January 2004
Doc/anw/sta/agd/amc/ETT_Trans
Guidelines for the production of a multilingual version of
the European Training Thesaurus
Guidelines for the production of a multilingual version of the European Training
Thesaurus .......................................................................................................................... 1
1.
Development of the European Training Thesaurus – ETT ..................................... 3
1.1. Purpose of the ETT .......................................................................................................... 3
1.2. Semantic interoperability ................................................................................................ 3
1.3. Mapping the three European thesauri in the field of education and training ........... 3
2.
Major European or international documentary languages ..................................... 4
2.1. European documentary languages in the field of vocational education and training
(VET).......................................................................................................................................... 4
2.1.1.
2.1.2.
Eurydice - The European Education Thesaurus ...................................................................... 4
eSchoolnet Thesaurus: ETB .................................................................................................... 4
2.2. Online European documentary languages in the field of European organisations ... 4
2.2.1.
2.2.2.
Eurovoc ................................................................................................................................... 4
Eclas Thesaurus ...................................................................................................................... 4
2.3. International Online Thesaurus in the field of VET and Labour .............................. 4
2.3.1.
2.3.2.
Unesco Thesaurus ................................................................................................................... 4
ILOTERM ............................................................................................................................... 5
2.4. Other terminological tools ............................................................................................... 5
2.4.1.
2.4.2.
2.4.3.
2.4.4.
2.4.5.
2.4.6.
Cedefop Glossarium Vocational Training. 1996 ..................................................................... 5
Cedefop Glossary to candidate countries. 2004 ...................................................................... 5
ETF Glossary .......................................................................................................................... 5
The Council of the European Union Terminological Information System – TIS ................... 5
Eurodicautom .......................................................................................................................... 5
OECD Macrothesaurus ........................................................................................................... 5
2.5. Sources used by Cedefop for the maintenance of the The European Education
Thesaurus .................................................................................................................................... 6
Cedefop – Anne Waniart - Friday, 09 January 2004
3.
Standards and definition ........................................................................................... 7
3.1. Standards .......................................................................................................................... 7
3.2. Descriptor / Preferred term ........................................................................................... 7
3.3. Scope note (SN) ................................................................................................................. 8
3.4. Non-descriptor / Non-preferred Term .......................................................................... 8
3.5. Definition of equivalence and degrees of equivalence .................................................. 8
3.5.1.
3.5.2.
3.5.3.
4.
Exact equivalence ................................................................................................................... 8
Partial equivalence .................................................................................................................. 8
Non-equivalence ..................................................................................................................... 9
Interoperability recommendations ............................................................................ 9
4.1. Increase interoperability among Cedefop databases through the thesaurus as the
backbone of knowledge systems. ............................................................................................. 9
4.2. Increase interoperability among European databases ................................................. 9
5.
Forming Language Equivalents ............................................................................. 10
5.1. Forming Language Equivalents .................................................................................... 10
5.1.1.
5.1.2.
Unique terms ......................................................................................................................... 10
Creation / modification of scope notes .................................................................................. 10
5.2. Descriptor with no translation in the target language ................................................ 11
6.
Quality control ......................................................................................................... 11
6.1. Checking the coherence of the new term in the ETT ................................................. 11
6.2. Checking the coherence of the linguistic version ........................................................ 11
7. Flow chart for the production of a multilingual version of the European Training
Thesaurus ........................................................................................................................ 12
8. Annex 1: Translation & Interpreting Service Intertext was utilized when
translating the Cedefop Thesaurus into Finnish. .......................................................... 13
9.
Annex II : European programs Internet location .................................................. 14
9.1. European Programmes in force .................................................................................... 14
Cedefop – Anne Waniart - Friday, 09 January 2004
2
1.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE EUROPEAN TRAINING THESAURUS – ETT
1.1.
Purpose of the ETT
Since Cedefop was founded in 1975, its Library, Documentation and Archives Service
has collected and disseminated information about vocational education and training
(VET) in the European Union, both from the Member States and from European and
international organisations.
The European Training Thesaurus contains more than 2 600 terms (descriptors and nondescriptors) related to vocational education and training.
The European Training Thesaurus ensures a double function: it is a link both between
Cedefop’s users and its documentary resources, and a link between these different
resources.
In the future, moreover, the European Training Thesaurus will offer wider coverage of
European, and even world-wide, training-related documentary resources.
The previous version was published in 1992 and the current English version was finalised
in 2001.
1.2.
Semantic interoperability
“In the open environment of the Internet and the Web, information resources are
heterogeneous and have been indexed according to different criteria. The ideal approach
would be to provide a “one-stop” seamless search facility instead of requiring the user to
search individual databases or collections separately. To enable such an approach, it is
important to render the different knowledge organisation systems, such as controlled
vocabularies and classification schemes, interoperable within a single search apparatus.”1
Consequently Cedefop, European Schoolnet and Eurydice, three main European actors in
the field of education and training, decided to ensure the semantic interoperability of
their thesaurus.
1.3.
Mapping the three European thesauri in the field of education and
training2
In 2004, Cedefop developed a new tool for the production of a multilingual version of the
ETT to reduce the duplication of effort.
Included in this tool is the source language plus the already existing equivalents from
European Schoolnet, Eurydice and Eurovoc thesauri.
1
2
http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla68/papers/008-122e.pdf
Methods for achieving or improving interoperability : http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla68/papers/008-122e.pdf
Cedefop – Anne Waniart - Friday, 09 January 2004
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2.
MAJOR EUROPEAN OR INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY LANGUAGES
2.1.
European documentary languages in the field of vocational education
and training (VET)
2.1.1.
Eurydice - The European Education Thesaurus
The European Education Thesaurus is an information resource language intended to
facilitate the recording of and search for information in databases on education in
Europe. Covering the 11 European official languages, it consists of a set of terms
linked to one another by hierarchical or associative relationships.
2.1.2.
eSchoolnet Thesaurus: ETB
The ETB (European Treasury Browser) thesaurus is a multilingual thesaurus in
eight languages: Danish, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Spanish,
Swedish aimed to index educational resources.
2.2.
Online European documentary languages in the field of European
organisations
2.2.1.
Eurovoc
Eurovoc is a multilingual thesaurus covering the fields in which the European
Communities are active. This documentation product is currently used by the
European Parliament, the Office for Official Publications of the European
Communities, national and regional parliaments in Europe, national
government departments and certain European organisations. Eurovoc exists in the
11 official languages of the European Union (Spanish, Danish, German, Greek,
English, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Finnish and Swedish). In addition to
these versions, it has been translated by the parliaments of a number of other
countries (Albania, Croatia, Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland,
Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Slovenia).
2.2.2.
Eclas Thesaurus
ECLAS, the Commission libraries’ catalogue records are indexed using the bilingual
(EN/FR) ECLAS thesaurus. ECLAS covers the European Union's official publications
and documents of most intergovernmental organisations, commercial, academic and
government presses, and selected periodical articles of lasting interest
2.3.
International Online Thesaurus in the field of VET and Labour
2.3.1.
Unesco Thesaurus
The UNESCO Thesaurus is a controlled vocabulary developed in English, French
and Spanish which includes subject terms for the following areas of knowledge:
education, science, culture, social and human sciences, information and
communication, and politics, law and economics. It also includes the names of
countries and groupings of countries: political, economic, geographic, ethnic and
religious, and linguistic groupings
Cedefop – Anne Waniart - Friday, 09 January 2004
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2.3.2.
ILOTERM
ILOTERM is a quadrilingual terminology database managed by the Terminology and
Reference Unit of the Official Documentation Branch (OFFDOC). It provides English,
French, Spanish and German equivalents of terms in the social and labour fields.
2.4.
Other terminological tools
2.4.1.
Cedefop Glossarium Vocational Training. 1996
2.4.2.
Cedefop Glossary to candidate countries. 2004
The glossary has been published in collaboration with the European Training Foundation
(ETF) in Turin and is intended for researchers and practitioners and more generally for all
those involved in VET policy in Europe. It does not represent an exhaustive inventory of
the terminology used by VET specialists; rather it identifies a selection of the key terms
that are essential for an understanding of current VET policy in Europe. It is published in
six languages, namely English, French, German, Czech, Hungarian and Polish.
2.4.3.
ETF Glossary
Glossary - Labour market terms and standard & curriculum development terms in EN
and RU. This document presents a common understanding of VET related terms and
their underlying concepts.
2.4.4.
The Council of the European Union Terminological Information
System – TIS
TIS on the Web is a simplified version of the terminological database used by
terminologists and translators working in The General Secretariat of the Council of the
European Union. Available in the 11 official languages of the European Union
(Spanish, Danish, German, Greek, English, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese,
Finnish and Swedish).
2.4.5.
Eurodicautom
Eurodicautom is the multilingual terminological database of the European Commission's
Translation Service in 11 official languages of the European Union.
2.4.6.
OECD Macrothesaurus
Availability in: EN, ES, FR
Cedefop – Anne Waniart - Friday, 09 January 2004
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2.5.
Sources used by Cedefop for the maintenance of the The European
Education Thesaurus
The building and maintenance of a thesaurus is a long-term commitment. To ensure
interoperability between European sources we have first collected information on all
European and selected sources, to determine which are the most relevant for each ETT
field. For example we rely on the expertise of Eurovoc concerning European Institutions
descriptors, furthermore their translation is in the 11 European languages. This produces
two results:
– Cedefop may focus primarily on its core field expertise and base the updating of the
fields of the ETT concerning European institutions on the work performed by the
Eurovoc thesaurus manager.
– The establishment of interoperability among thesauri has led to information sharing in
a European Union context.
This table reflects the methodology used in the selection of sources when Cedefop
undertook the updating of the 1992 version.
The translators are advised to follow the same methodology when producing their
language version.
Field
Source 1
Training
– Cedefop Glossaries
Education
– Cedefop Glossaries
Source 2
– The European Education
Thesaurus
– Cedefop Multilingual thesaurus
of vocational training .1992
– ETB
– The
European
Thesaurus
– Cedefop
Multilingual
thesaurus
of
vocational
Education
training .1992
– ETB
– Cedefop Glossaries
– Cedefop Glossaries
– ETB
– The European Education
Thesaurus
Fields of training:
sciences and
technology
– ETB
– Fields of Training
Information and
communication
technology
– ETB
Labour
– Cedefop Multilingual thesaurus – ILO
of vocational training .1992
Learning
– Eurydice
– Eurydice
– UNESCO
– Eurovoc
Cedefop – Anne Waniart - Friday, 09 January 2004
Enterprise
– Cedefop Multilingual thesaurus – ILO
of vocational training .1992
– OECD Macrothesaurus
– Eurovoc
Occupations
– Cedefop Multilingual thesaurus
of vocational training .1992
– ILO
Economic activities
OECD Macrothesaurus
– Eurovoc
– Eurostat
Economy
– Eurovoc
OECD Macrothesaurus
– Eurostat
– Eurovoc
Administration
– Eurostat
Society
– Eurovoc
Population
– Eurovoc
– Eurostat
and – ISO 3166 for countries
Countries
regions
European Union
– Eurovoc
International
organisations
– Eurovoc
Document type
Auxiliary terms
3.
STANDARDS AND DEFINITION
3.1.
Standards
– ISO 639 relating to representation of languages
– ISO 3166 relating to country codes
– ISO 2788 relating to the monolingual thesaurus
– ISO 5964 relating to multilingual thesauri
– Standard for structured vocabularies (BS 8723) which will include one section on
interoperability between vocabularies and one on interoperability with
applications.
3.2.
Descriptor / Preferred term
A term used consistently when indexing to represent a given concept; sometimes
known as "preferred term". [ISO 5963:1985 ; ISO 2788:1986; and ISO 5964:1985]
Cedefop – Anne Waniart - Friday, 09 January 2004
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3.3.
Scope note (SN)
Explanation added to a heading to clarify the range of the subject matter
encompassed or the usage of the heading within the index. [ISO 999:1996]. They are
– either a definition, if this clarifies the meaning of the descriptor;
– or guidance on how to use the descriptor when indexing documents and
formulating queries.
3.4.
Non-descriptor / Non-preferred Term
Non-preferred term: The synonym or quasi-synonym of a preferred term. [ISO
5963:1985; ISO 2788:1986; and ISO 5964:1985] .
« Non-descriptors facilitate the access to documents that were indexed by the
documentalist differently from what the end-user may think»3
They are made recognisable by their different characters, italic in our case (may vary in
number from one linguistic version to another)
A rather high rate of non-descriptors is planned to facilitate the end user and automatic or
semi-automatic mapping of indexing and searching that use free natural language.
This is a mutual and asymmetric relationship that is:
If A is a non-descriptor for B, B is the preferred term for A.
Note: One descriptor may have as many non-descriptors as desired or requested.
Different language versions of the ETT can have a different number of nondescriptors, according to their cultural differences and needs.
3.5.
Definition of equivalence and degrees of equivalence
3.5.1.
Exact equivalence
The target language contains a term that is identical in meaning and scope to the term in
the source language.
3.5.2.
Partial equivalence
The term in the source language cannot be matched by an exactly equivalent term in the
target language, but a near translation can be achieved by selecting a term with a slightly
broader or narrower meaning.
3
http://www.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/etb/_Toc514661062
Cedefop – Anne Waniart - Friday, 09 January 2004
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3.5.3.
Non-equivalence
In certain instances no acceptable term exists in one of the thesauri. A loan / borrowed
term is acceptable as a descriptor under the following conditions:
– if the loan/borrowed term is likely to be used by “official literature” and exists in
Government publications or academic works.
– if no alternative approach is practicable, e.g., the source language term can be
expressed in the target language only as a long definitive phrase that cannot be
accepted as a thesaurus descriptor or indexing term.
In the “Translators database” the mapping of the 3 thesauri (ETB, Eurydice and
Eurovoc) is based on the exact equivalence of terms in the English version.
4.
INTEROPERABILITY RECOMMENDATIONS
The translator will have to proceed through the thesaurus term by term, selecting the
appropriate equivalent terms in each language keeping in mind the interoperability
objective
4.1.
Increase interoperability among Cedefop databases through the
thesaurus as the backbone of knowledge systems.4
“In order to guarantee a full integration and a 100% compatibility among all different
types of information within a knowledge system, a multilingual and topical thesaurus is
the main success factor.
As the final objective is to allow end users to "navigate", to search through a single entry
point through all (structured) information available at Cedefop as well as from ReferNet
information sources, we need to increase interoperability.”
4.2.
Increase interoperability among European databases5
“As general indexing tools, thesauri are highly costly and time consuming to create and
maintain. Therefore a pragmatic approach is recommended in order to reduce
development and maintenance costs, for thesaurus producers and owners.
By examining existing thesauri, from general ones such as Eurovoc to more specialised
ones such as the European Education Thesaurus (the former Eudised) and the European
Treasury Browser, different “levels” can be identified among the sections of each
thesauri. “
In the field of learning, it is possible to regard all thesauri as being “divided” into three
main “levels” of micro thesauri:
4
Note on integration and interoperability for Cedefop KMS / Marc Willem. 2002
5
CEN/ISSS Learning Technologies Workshop
- Controlled Vocabularies for Learning Object Metadata.. June,
2003http://www.cenorm.be/isss/LT-vocabulary/vocrep.html
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General concepts
Relevant to almost all thesauri e.g. geographical terms.
Concepts common to the field of learning
e.g. education, training, etc., cf. common micro thesauri between EET-Eurydice, ETT.
Specific concepts
For a particular field of application, e.g. vocational training.
Localisation
In some cases it is also possible to identify a fourth level that could be referred to as
“localisation”, e.g. the adaptation of resources to specific socio-economic contexts.
5.
FORMING LANGUAGE EQUIVALENTS
ISO 5964 recognises three approaches to the construction of multilingual thesauri: ab
initio construction, translation of an existing monolingual thesaurus; and reconciliation
and merging of existing thesauri in two or more working languages6.
Before a match of thesauri can be attempted, all participants must check the hierarchical
placement of the terms.
5.1.
Forming Language Equivalents
5.1.1.
Unique terms
Descriptors and non-descriptors should be unique, it is essential to ensure that they
do not already exist in the thesaurus.
5.1.2.
Creation / modification of scope notes
While traditional thesaurus construction has not called for definitive scope notes on each
term in the thesaurus, they are absolutely necessary for multilingual equivalency
work. If participants cannot be sure that the meaning of their terms and scopes of
application are clear, finding accurate equivalents is impossible.7
As terms are identified, additional work on them may be required, such as adding
scope notes.
6
Translation vs. Equivalency Work : http://www.chin.gc.ca/Resources/Publications/Guidelines/English/Contents/translation.html
7
http://www.chin.gc.ca/Resources/Publications/Guidelines/English/Contents/requirements.html
Cedefop – Anne Waniart - Friday, 09 January 2004
10
Four strategies leading to increasing levels of interoperability between European
Schoolnet Eurydice and Cedefop were presented in greater detail at their meeting in
September 2003. They ranged from terminological harmonisation, mapping and a
common basic vocabulary to the association of thesauri.
In the 2001 version, Cedefop had placed a lot of effort on the scope notes and have linked
to the new descriptors a definition to clarify the meaning and the use of the descriptor
which has been approved by the Eurydice Thesaurus management team. 8
Scope notes which provide a definition must be translated to enhance a common
understanding of the descriptor which will be crucial in terms of the EU enlargement and
the extension of the ReferNet to new countries.
For scope notes of application, the SN could be useful in the source language but not in
the target language.
Translation of a scope note must not necessarily be a literal translation, it must however
preserve the semantic context of the concept.
5.2.
Descriptor with no translation in the target language
If a translation of the descriptor is not found in the main source thesauri cited in the table
(European Schoolnet and Eurydice, OECD,...), terms selected as descriptors must reflect
academic work or governmental publications. 9
Each new term must be introduced with the source cited with a standard bibliographic
source form. (Author. Title. Publisher, year, p.)
6.
QUALITY CONTROL
6.1.
–
–
–
–
Checking the coherence of the new term in the ETT
The term should not be confused with a homograph.
The term would not exist as a descriptor and a non-descriptor.
A non-descriptor could be only linked with one and only one descriptor.
The hierarchical placement should be checked to respect the structure of the ETT and
the translation of a term must suit its relationship with broader / narrow terms.
6.2.
Checking the coherence of the linguistic version
A final control should be performed by a documentalist to ensure that the target language
version is coherent with the original source language.
8
See in the Introduction of the ETT
9
See Annex : The sources used in the Finnish Thesaurus translation
Cedefop – Anne Waniart - Friday, 09 January 2004
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7.
FLOW CHART FOR THE PRODUCTION
EUROPEAN TRAINING THESAURUS
OF A MULTILINGUAL VERSION OF THE
Term in the Source
language
8.
ETT 1992
Other source
EET
ETB
Eurovoc
Term in the target
language
Descriptor
Non-descriptor
With out
Scope Note
With Scope
Note
Necessary
Creation or
deletion of
a guidance
SN
Translation of
definition SN
Quality control : hierarchichal
placement
FINAL PRODUCT
Source language + Target language
Cedefop – Anne Waniart - Friday, 09 January 2004
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No necessary
ANNEX 1: TRANSLATION & INTERPRETING SERVICE INTERTEXT
WHEN TRANSLATING THE CEDEFOP THESAURUS INTO FINNISH.
WAS UTILIZED
This is the list of the sources which Translation & Interpreting Service Intertext has
utilized when translating the Cedefop Thesaurus into Finnish. The translation agency
empasises that every term has been checked from as many sources as possible. As main
sources Intertext has used the following:
- Yleinen suomalainen asiasanasto (General Finnish Vocabulary)
- EUROVOC
- EET (Eurydice)
- Thesaurus of UNESCO (for definitions)
- Database of the official documents of EU
- EUR-Lex
- Other documents of EU
- Tilastokeskuksen ammattiluokitus (1995) (Classification of vocations made by
Statistics Finland)
- Tilastokeskuksen toimialaluokitus (TOL 1995) (Classification of vocational fields)
- NACE classification by EU
- EU:n yhteinen hankintasanasto (Common Procurement Vocabulary)
- Valtiokonttorin virka- ja ammattinimikekoodisto (State Treasury codes for titles)
- Oponetin ammattikuvaukset (descriptions of vocations by the web service of school
guidance cousellors)
- Koulutusnetti (web service for study opportunities)
- EU:n komission käännöspalvelun Toimielinten yhteiset tekstinlaadinnan ohjeet (EU
Commission style guide)
-
CD-Facta 2000. Suomen kielen perussanakirjan CD-ROM -versio (Finnish language
general dictionary, CD-ROM version)
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9.
ANNEX II : EUROPEAN PROGRAMS INTERNET LOCATION
9.1.
European Programmes in force10
Name
Source
Alfa
http://europa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/projects/alfa/index_en.ht
m
Combating discrimination
programme
http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/fundamental_ri
ghts/prog/index_en.htm
Comenius
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/programmes/socrates/c
omenius/index_en.html
Culture 2000
eLearning action
http://europa.eu.int/comm/culture/eac/index_fr.html
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/elearning/
Equal
http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/equal/index_en
.html
Erasmus Mundus
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/programmes/socrates/er
asmus/erasmus_en.html
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/programmes/mundus/in
dex_en.html
EU/Canada co-operation
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/programmes/eucanada/canada_en.html
EU/USA co-operation
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/programmes/euusa/usa_en.html
Eures
Europass
10
http://europa.eu.int/eures/index.jsp
http://europass.cedefop.eu.int/
European voluntary service
http://europa.eu.int/comm/youth/program/guide/action2_en.ht
ml
European year of languages
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/policies/lang/year/year_e
n.html
Grotius
http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/funding/intro/funding
_intro_en.htm
Grundtvig
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/programmes/socrates/gr
undtvig/home_en.html
Leader
http://europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/rur/leaderplus/index_en
.htm
Last visit:2004.02
Cedefop – Anne Waniart - Friday, 09 January 2004
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Leonardo da Vinci
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/programmes/leonardo/n
ew/leonardo2_en.html
Lingua
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/programmes/socrates/li
ngua/index_en.html
Media
http://europa.eu.int/comm/avpolicy/media/index_fr.html
Minerva
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/programmes/socrates/m
inerva/action_en.html
Oisin
http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/project/oisin_en.htm
Phare
http://europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/pas/phare/
Socrates
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/socrates.html
Stop
http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/funding/stop/wai/fun
ding_stop_en.htm
Tacis
http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/ceeca/tacis/inde
x.htm
Tempus
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/programmes/tempus/ind
ex_en.html
TSER
Youth programme
http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/tser1.html
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/youth.html
Anne Waniart
Documentalist
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