Computer-Aided Translation Technology: A Practical Introduction

4. Terminology-Management Systems

4. Terminology-Management Systems ... users who try to use standard spreadsheet, database, or word-processing programs to manage terminological data almost inevitablyrun into problems involving compromised data integrity due to inadequate modeling features, in addition to difficulties manipulating large volumes of data as resources grow over time. Schmitz (2001, 539) A major part of any translation project is identifying equivalents for specialized terms. Subject fields such as computing, manufacturing, law, and medicine all have significant amounts of field-specific terminology . In addition, many clients will have preferred in-house terminology . Researching the specific terms needed to complete any given translation is a time-consuming task, and translators do not want to have to repeat all this work each time they begin a new translation. A terminology-management system (TMS) can help with various aspects of the translator's terminology-related tasks, including the storage, retrieval, and updating of term records. A TMS can help to ensure greater consistency in the use of terminology, which not only makes documentation easier to read and understand, but also prevents miscommunications . Effective terminology management can help to cut costs, improve linguistic quality, and reduce turnaround times for translation, which is very important in this age of intense time-tomarket pressures. TMSs have been in existence for some time. Early efforts to use computers for terminology management began in the 1960s and eventually led to the development of several large-scale term banks, such as 78 Computer-Aided Translation Technology Eurodicautom, Termium, and the Banque de terminologie du Quebec (now known as the Grand dictionnaire terminologique), which were maintained on mainframe computers by large organizations. In the 1980s, when desktop computers became available, personal TMSs were among the first CATtools commercially available to translators. Although they were very welcome at the time, these early TMSs had some limitations. They were designed to run on a single computer and could not easily be shared. They typically allowed only simple management of bilingual terminology and imposed considerable restrictions on the type and number of data fields as well as on themaximum amount of data that could be stored in these fields. Recently, however, this type of software has become more powerful and flexible, particularly in terms of storage and retrieval options. 4.1 Storage The most fundamental function of a TMS is that it acts as a repository for consolidating and storing terminological information for use in future translation projects. Previously, many TMSs stored information in structured text files, mapping source-to-target terminology using a unidirectional one-to-one correspondence. This caused difficulties, for example, if a French-English term base needed to be used for an English-French translation. The newer, more sophisticated software stores the information using a relational model. This means that the information is stored in a more onomasiological or concept-based way, which permits mapping in multiple language directions. There is also increased flexibility in the type and amount ofinformation that can be stored on a term record. Formerly, users were required to choose from a predefined set of fields (e.g., subject field, definition, context, source), which had to be filled in on each term record. The number of fields was often fixed, as was the number of characters that could be stored in each field. For instance, if a TMS allowed for only one context, the user was forced to record only one context, even though it may have been useful to provide several. An example of a typical conventional record template is provided in figure 4.1. In contrast, as illustrated in figure 4.2, most contemporary TMSs have adopted a free entry structure, which allows users to define their own fields of information, including repeatable fields (e.g., for multiple contexts) and some even permit the inclusion of graphics. Not only can users choose their own information fields, they can also arrange Terminology-Management Systems 79 Term (En): Term (Fr): Subject field: Definition: Context: Synonym(s): Source: Comment: Administrative info (date, author, quality code, etc.): Figure 4.1 TMSterm record with a fixed set of predefined fields. and format them, choosing different layouts, fonts, or colours for easy identification of important information. This means that the software can be adapted to suit a specific user's needs and can grow as future requirements change.The amount of informationthat can be stored in any given field or record has also increased dramatically. Different term bases can...