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© Terminologicentrum TNC
Everyone’s expertise
in terminology work:
top or bottom?
Henrik Nilsson
Terminologicentrum TNC
VII EAFT Summit
28 November 2014

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· Terminology work = by and for whom?
· Top(-down) or bottom(-up)?
· pros and cons
· terminology comprehension surveys
· the role of usage
· trust!?
Outline

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• REHVA HVAC Dictionary in printed form (1982)
• 9 languages (incl. Swedish), ca 4 000 terms
• more REHVA member organizations → working group for
digitalization of the dictionary
• basic list (12 000 English terms) → other languages
• various methodologies in various countries
• working groups, students, ”translation sprints” for
volunteers
• Sweden: EMTF, add 8 000 Swedish equivalents
• senior council on volunteer basis etc. →
• no budget! →
• translation ”contest” among members
• 2 years to add Swedish terms
• final correction by project manager
Example: HVAC/REHVA
[Signhild Gelin, EMTF]

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Number of terms to translate
Terms being translated
Translated terms
Number of registered translators

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My page
My 10 latest translations

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demand ventilation (the ~)
behovsventilation ( ~er)
demand controlled ventilation (the ~)
begära kontrollerad ventilation (~er)
energy recovery ventilation system (the ~)
Värmeåtervinnande ventilationssystem ( ~er)
exhaust ventilation installation package (the ~)
Avlufts installation ( ~er)
Results

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• prescriptive terminology work
• terminology projects initiated by domain experts
(through organizations) → glossaries etc.
• early ”computerization”
• consensus aim through ”rundfrågor” (organized
formal reference rounds) etc.
• answered by: engineers, domain institutions etc.
TNC – traditional (old-fashioned?)
• joint groups for terminology – usage taken into
(some) consideration
• national termbank (Rikstermbanken)
• not much user adaptation
• little (relevant) feedback

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social media
meeting place on the Internet where the contents are created by
the users and the purpose of which is to create, maintain and
develop contacts and relations through exchange of information
[E-delegationen, 2011]+ Note:
On the one hand, the form ”sociala medier” can be used when you want to speak about two or
more (countable) social media, i.e. meeting places such as blogs […], microblogs (Twitter),
chats […], discussion fora, social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn), user generated file sharing
fora (Youtube, Flickr), web sites with jointly produced content (Wikipedia).
Example: "TNC runs two social media: a blog on TNC’s web site and a page on Facebook.”
On the other hand, the form ”sociala medier” can be used in a wider, collective meaning. In
that case, it represents a communication environment based on interactivity and user
orientation. In this more unprecise use of the expression ”sociala medier” activites auch as
• maintaining contacts in Facebook by sharing personal information to ther users
• creating and reading posts in e.g. blogs or chats
• development of open source software
• e-trade between consumers (e.g. auction sites such as Ebay and Tradera)
• interactive and user-oriented evalutation and comparison of quality and price for services
and products (e.g. web sites such as Pricerunner and Prisjakt)
• online games with several pariticpants.
Example: "TNC uses the social media to ask for opinitions in terminological matters."
[Joint group for Swedish computer terminology, 2012]

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• today: (social media)?

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Terminology work – by whom?
• SME (subject matter expert)
• terminologist-generalists
• SME-terminologists (terminologist with domain
competence
• translators
• interpreters
• concept modellers
• knowledge managers
• …
→
[Karsch, 2014]
• training terminologists (more) in subject matters
• training of subject matter experts in terminology
• both (in parallel)?

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• promote the introduction of methods of
cooperation that take into account the lessons
of what has already been achieved and of
existing initiatives and projects
• foster initiatives to raise the awareness of
industry and public authorities as regards
participation in terminology work
Brussels declaration

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• all terminology-related measures must be economically
motivated
• before any work is started, needs should be demonstrated
and prioritized
• choice of terms and definitions should, as far as
possible, be managed by those technical instances
who have the need and the knowledge
• existing terminology, internal and external, shall naturally
be used, but methods to make it known and accessible need
to be improved
Terminology work in organizations
[LME, 1980]

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Types of sources
The main types of documentation to be considered include:
a) authoritative documents (laws, regulations, standards)
b) documents generally recognized by the scientific community
(textbooks, scientific dissertations, scientific periodicals)
c) current but not necessarily generally recognized material
(pamphlets, directions for use, parts lists, resports, etc.)
d) human sources (the members of the working group and
other experts)
[ISO 10241]

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Top … experts
(crowd)

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Aspects to consider
descriptive – prescriptive
systematic – ad hoc
surface – depth
LGP – LSP
scattered – focused

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Top … experts
crowd
+ needed to identify problem
+ expert competence includes
knowledge of subject field
terminology
+ guarantee of terminology
usage (with broad
participation)
+ terminology = well-adapted
to target group (= experts,
not always crowd)
+ for specialized areas which
normally don’t affect the
general public
+ better overview of domain
→ easier to create concept
systems etc.

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withinaparticulardomain
across domains
Horizontal terminology work

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Top … experts
crowd
+ needed to identify problem
terminology
usage (with broad
participation)
not always crowd)
general public
systems etc.
− no guarantee that experts
understand terminological
method (”wrong” experts)
− not enough concept
orientation

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Expert participation …
Language committee of the Swedish society of medicine
• experts from every speciality of medicine
• meetings and e-mail discussions
• one (SME-)terminologist
• one general language planner

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Question: We keep discussing which of the terms ”nackstelhet”
(ruchal rigidity) and ”nackstyvhet” (neck rigidity) best
describe a symptom of meningitis. Are they synonyms or is there a
difference as to degree?
Answer: a lot of discussion …
• Terminologist: there seems to be a difference although usage
varies
• Neurologist: there is a difference …
• Other experts: they are used as synonyms, such general words
should not be narrowed in scope, and not used with patients,
etc.
”This discussion is taking too long. […] I don’t think this is
primarily a terminological question and I don’t think it should
be sent on to other experts in the group since […]

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Expert participation = no guarantee
• no guarantee that the work is concept-oriented just because
experts participate →
• terminology training needed
• terminologist – not only language specialist …

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− no guarantee that experts
understand terminological
method (”wrong” experts)
orientation
− risk of non-consensus (in
normative work)
− risk of own interest,
variation for career purposes
− not enough coverage (not
all experts participate)
− limited resources and
efforts, vulnerability
− too much experts?
− reputation on the line …
Top …
+ needed o identify proiblem
terminology
usage (with broad
participation)
not always crowd)
general public
systems etc.
experts
crowd

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Critics
“Crowdsourcing killed indie rock … ‘cause crowds have terrible
taste.” [Weingarten in Keats, 2011]
“government needs smart-sourcing, not crowdsourcing.”
[Peterson in Keats, 2011]
“Collectively based lexicography is often regarded with scepticism
by professional lexicographers since anyone can contribute
anything and there’s no possibility to keep the quality level of the
contributions under control. This way of working has even been
described as a potential danger to all serious lexicography since
these dictionaries risk disturbing the trust in the two qualities that
users generally associate with professionally produced
dictionaries: quality and reliability.”
[Doherty in Svensén, 2004]

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… or bottom?
− too many, irrelevant
comments
− limited understanding of
terminological method and
concept analysis
− loss of intension depth
(determinologization)
orientation (unsuitable
starting point)
− no overview of domain
− ”fake” representativity
− threatens language
professions (everyone’s =
expert)??
experts
crowd

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[letter to TNC, January 2013]
Example: power of usage
”In an article about the new design of driving licences, the
expression ”datamatrix” is used. It is new to me and I
though it was another word for QR code. But when I asked
the responsible authority they said that it’s not the case,
although they look similar. Datamatrix is the word used and
also the one used in th IT business. Should I write
datamatrix or is there a better Swedish word? A Swedish
spelling?

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bar code →
pattern code
(graphic code)
barcode
(’one dimensional
pattern code’)
square code,
(dot code)
(’two dimensional
pattern code’)
code
datamatrix
code
EAN-code QR-code
[number of dimensions]
[representational form]
alfanumeric code

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… or bottom?
+ joint effort, more resources,
quicker, cheaper
+ suitable for descriptive work
(and possibly for term
creation, QA)
experts
crowd
comments
concept analysis
starting point)

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“The advantage of crowdsourcing approaches against
the expert-based approaches is [a] much greater scale
of discovered semantics. First, the quantity of potential
lay (non-expert) contributors is larger (even when they
are used redundantly). On the other hand, experts are
sometimes unavailable. Second, lay contributors are
much cheaper or even free”
[Šimko & Beliková, 2014]

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9 stages
1. Objectives and planning
2. Term collection
3. Concept-based structuring
4. Linguistic assessment and revision
5. Creation of new terms
6. Terminology administration
7. Terminology provision and distribution
8. Terminology maintenance
9. Control of terminology usage
terminology management
[Drewer in Großjean, 2009]
systematic research, documentation, storage and distribution
of concepts along with the terms that denote those concepts
[TerminOrgs, 2012]

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• today: (social media)
• Swedish term for ”crowdsourcing”: tänktalko, gräsrotsinitiativ?

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”Crowdsourcing” in Swedish?
”The Swedish Language Council discussed it last year and received
many suggestions. Unfortunately it went the way it often goes:
some suggestions were so witty that you had to read the footnote
to get the point. Someone suggested ”tänktalko”, which is
understandable if you know Finnish and know that talko mans
”joint volunteer work”. Other suggestions were ”samtänk”,
”folkentreprenad”, ”samentreprenad”, ”svärmarbete”,
”tankeverkstad”, ”grupparbete”, ”allemansdelegering”,
”tillsamrande”.
Some of those suggesting have not done their homework.
Crowdsourcing is not group work. Those who contribute work
separately. Often they don’t even know that the others exist. But it
is good that the suggestions are not direct translations.”
[Lotsson, Computer Sweden, 2012]

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”Crowdsourcing” in Swedish? (cont.)

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Factors affecting choice
• How established is the expression in common
usage?
• How accepted is the expression among the
language users?
• How accepteed is the expression among
”standardising” authorities?
• How well does the expression fit the language
system?
• How well does the expression fit into the tradition
of written language?
• How well does the expression work in various
communicative contexts?

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Relationship usage–norms
• Norms always need to be based on actucal
usage.
• ”Usage” means the ”qualified” and ”professional”
usage.
• The more established a usage is, the stronger
reasons are needed to go against in.

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… or bottom?
quicker, cheaper
creation, QA)
+ better chance of
implementation of created
terms
experts
crowd

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”very specific” terms
terms shared between
neighbouring domains
”general” terms
peptid
prokaryot
DNA
provrör
kvorumreglering
dragskåp
pipett
roll
metod
ansvar
general
language
words
skåp
flaskabunsenbrännare
handske
låda
dropphybridisering
kaotropt salt

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© Terminologicentrum TNC© Terminologicentrum TNC
In reality ...

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Agreement principle?
“If the crowdsourced semantics originates from the
human work, then what differences [does] it have to
expert approaches […]? The answer is the different
quality assurance mechanisms. While manual
approaches rely on the expertise of the individual, the
crowd-based approaches [follows] the agreement
principle: if many, even uninitiated people independetly
express the same fact, it is probably a truth (e.g., the
same photo gets decorated with the same tag from
multiple users).”
[Šimko & Beliková, 2014]
in terminology work!?

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Investigation of term comprehension among the
general public:
• Survey at web site www.bolagsverket.se autumn 2008
• Four separate surveys, ca 500 answers to each
• 40 terms were tested
• The respondents were to
– estimate if they understood the term used in a
sentence (e.g. ”She is a limited partner.”)
– explain the term using their own words
Swedish Companies Registration
Office: survey

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• switch certain terms for ”clearer” ones
• simplify forms and other documents
• use terms more consistently
• give more examples in connection to difficult
words
• explain difficult words consistently in all texts
• include glossaries in brochure
Consequences

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… or bottom?
quicker, cheaper
creation, QA)
+ better chance of
implementation of created
terms
+ can possible generate new,
creative ideas
+ no responsibility, i.e. nothing
to lose
+ democratic (?)
experts
crowd
comments
concept analysis
starting point)

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Everyone’s = expert?
expert
a person who, through knowledge or experience,
has competence to give an opinion in the fields about
which he/she is consulted [ISO 13302:2003]
• undermine professionalization of language professions? (cf.
human translator – machine translation + post-editing)
• user adaptation – user education [cf. Antti K]
• different typer of crowd … →
nichesourcing
crowdsourcing where complex tasks are distributed amongst
a small crowd of amateur experts ... rather than the “faceless”
crowd” [de Boer et al., 2012]

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”Dovey (2009) writes about the roll of trust in
open innovation. It is described as the single
biggest resource in creating a social environment
where ideas are generated voluntarily, are
evaluated honestly and chosen before they,
through co-operation, are transformed into value-
creating products and services. […] All innovation
work depends on trust, from the generation of
ideas, sharing of ideas, development of ideas and
co-operation for the realization of the ideas.”
”trust the network – it probably knows more than
you do.” … or ???
[Eriksson, 2010]

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• ”expectancy held by an individual or group
that the word, promise, verbal or written
statement of another individual or group
can be relied on”
• ”mutual confidence that no party to an
exchange will exploit another’s vulnerabilities”
applicable also on man–machine relationships, e.g.
man → web site
“degree to which a user or other stakeholder has confidence that a
product or system will behave as intended”
on-line trust
attitude of confident expectation in an on-line situation of risk that
one’s vulnerabilities will not be exploited
trust
[Corritore et al, 2003]
[ISO/IEC 25010]

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1. Objectives and planning
• trust from:
• management
• financial department
• pr department
• it department
• colleagues
• trust in
• other (external) parties
• chosen way of working together
• (through) trust in:
• described processes & routines (standards)
• roles and responsibilities (other
organizations)
Trust ↔ terminology management

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1. Networking
Organizations have a networking relationship when they exchange
information in order to help each organization do a better job.
2. Coordination
Organizations have a coordinating relationship when they modify
their activities so that together, they provide better services to
their constituents.
3. Cooperation
When organizations cooperate, they not only share information
and make adjustments in their services – they share resources to
help each other do a better job.
4. Collaboration
In a collaborative relationship, organizations help each other
expand or enhance their capacities to do their jobs.
Types of ”togetherness”

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2. Term collection
• Trust in resources (internal & external) →
assessment of sources (ISO 23185, 10241, etc.)
3. Concept-based structuring
• Trust between project members, consultants, experts
• Trust in method (ISO 704, etc.) and consensus
(example: ”dictator definitions”)
4. Linguistic assessment and revision
• Trust in linguist/terminologist
5. Creation of new terms
• Trust between colleagues (experts – terminologists)
• Trust in consultants
• Trust in the crowd?
Trust ↔ terminology management (cont.)

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6. Terminology administration
• Trust in tool (TMS)
• Trust in standards
7. Terminology provision and distribution
• Trust from clients in result and its presentation
(glossaries), medium (web site, term bank etc.)
• Trust in clients (that they can use the service
correctly etc.)
8. Terminology maintenance
• Trust in tool
• Trust in colleagues (feedback, additions &
corrections)
Trust ↔ terminology management (cont.)

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Trust cues
• interface design
• no typos etc.
• overall look of web
site
• ease of searching
• information quality
• information
appropriateness
• information
usefulness
•
•

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”Placing greater trust in users than earlier seems to
be a widely accepted point of view”
[Tavast, 2008]
”Allowing different views for different users is
important in order to win over your users.”
[ISO/CD 26162:2009]

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Obstacles to trust
· resource-related: time, money
· technical: no hits, poor interfaces
· content-related: poor contents, obsolete contents
· organizational: unclear processes, roles and resposibilites
· psychological: uninvolvement, ”I know better”, everyone
= expert, I don’t need it; hierarchies
· awareness-related: not enough description of
background and methodology → uncertainty among users
· information-related: poorly marketed, non-existent or
poor information
· legal: hierarchies
· competing tools/terminology: why change?
·

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Motivation, incentives
[Frantz, 2010]
Motives
• acknowledgment
• prices, rewards
• self-marketing
• learning
Incentives
• instructions, briefs etc. affect motivation and participation
• platform, tools

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“There’s no obvious balance to be found between professional
integrity and freelance opportunity […] or between expert
judgment and majority opinion […] However, these dilemmas
can inform each other, and because they’re so different the issues
at stake become more explicit when considered together.
Embodied in the collective discussion is the wisdom of
crowdsourcing.”
[Keats, 2011]

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TNC
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www.tnc.se
henrik.nilsson@tnc.se

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