One more week until TSS 2010

Phones ringing, e-mails coming in and going out in an endless stream, last questions answered, last documents prepared and last problems solved – it is just about a week to go before the kick-off of this year’s International Terminology Summer School and the final preparation phase is in full swing. But all is going smoothly and so at the same time we are looking forward to a great event which is a little bit different from those of the last years.

First of all, our Summer School is a Spring School, really. Both the time of the year and the weather in Europe can’t suggest anything else. But it did not keep many the terminologists from attending. Unfortunately we even had to close our doors early in order to keep the number of attendants managable. Still, we will be a large and merry group.

Secondly, TermNet and other project managers responsible for the EQCA Certified Terminology Manager worked like crazy to launch this new and exciting certification during TSS 2010. And TSS 2010 in turn has offered a special deal for all its participants who want to spice up their attendance with a water proof and Europe-wide acknoledged certificate. A small admin fee for the certification body aside the exam will be free of charge.

But “the CTM”, as we affectionately call it by now, is open – and affordable for everybody! Test it and do the Self-Assessment (completely free of charge, of course):

ECQA Certified Terminology Manager Self-Assessment: http://www.ecqa.org/index.php?id=23 (simply sign up and the chose Certified Terminology Manager from the list)

Right after TSS 2010 there will be a series of free workshops organized at the United Nations in Vienna called Diversity and Global Understanding and there was an announcement in this Blog before (check entry). Registration is still possible during next week – go ahead and sign up, it is a great programme. But again, participation is limited. And after that we will all be at the ACUNS Annual Meeting. ACUNS is the Academic Council on the United Nations System and this year’s meeting will be in Vienna – and as new ACUNS members we will not only be there, but also organize a roundtable on Diversity Management, Terminology and the UN. We’ve heard that close to a thousand participants will attend in total and the events will take place at the UN in Vienna, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the University of Vienna. The programme and keynote speakers are first-class at any rate and I, personally, look very much forward to it.

Of course we will (well, nearly :-)) liveblog from TSS to keep you up to date and create a platform for discussion of topics!

Terminology Summer School 2010 in Vienna – Registration open

As from now on you can register for the upcoming International Terminology Summer School. The training week will take place in Vienna in the last week of May (24-28 May 2010).

Here’s the link: http://www.termnet.org/english/events/tss2010

TSS 2010

Terminology country report: Turkey

If you had asked me about terminology in Turkey one year back, I would probably have answered that there is not much going on in this country. It’s true, we have the occasional (however, I must say, very interested) participants at TSS. But else there was not much information coming out of the country that reached me.

But that was before I encountered TermTurk project (www.termturk.net). This project, sponsored by the EU-Turkey Dialog programme, is an eye-opener for me.

What’s it all about? Actually, it is meant as a beginning. A group of people got together to kick-start what they perceived as long overdue – the development of an elaborate and active terminology infrastructure in Turkey.

Surprisingly, there has not been much institutionalised research on terminology. Nor is there something like an information centre where interested groups or individuals can find what they need to know about it. It is surprising, because there is such a strong patronage: Kemal Mustafa Atatürk himself wrote a brochure to introduce Turkish geometry terminology. Atatürk, as we know was very dedicated to language planning in order to promote and facilitate nation-building processes in the new republic. Terminology is even explicitly mentioned in the country’s famous Anıtkabir – his mausoleum and museum in Ankara (something that my colleagues and I still marvel about because it such a pleasant feeling to see terminology being rewarded such public recognition).

So finally, TermTurk should achieve what is still lacking: an information and research centre at Hacettepe University in Ankara, closer ties with internation organizations and activities (e.g. in standardization and reserach), a national terminology policy, and networking, networking, networking of the many different and often isolated initiatives within Turkey.

And TermTurk is doing well in achieving these goals: Turkish standards institute is now actively participating in ISO/TC 37  standardization projects, a series of well-attended trainings, conferences and workshops foster dialogue and knowledge transfer, quality assurance and service certification (LICS) take root, training material is obtained, translated and produced at high speed.

TermTurk as a project will come to an end in November 2009. But the continuation of the achievements is already planned and prepared.

There is much to be expected from Turkey in the next years. And I, for my part, am quite proud to be at the core of the action from the very beginning.

It’s over – but not over yet!

TSS 2009 has closed doors for this year today. We think that it was just great! We wish all the participants a good trip back home. Nevertheless, we will all keep in touch. Here’s again our invitation to you all to join in the various discussions in this blog. Post your questions, feedback, suggestions for new topics etc.
Remember: you are TSS!

Organizing terminological data with the help of data categories

Terminological data are organized according to standardized data categories, which have been defined in various standards. They will in the future be available at http://www.isocat.org, which complies with the future ISO standard, ISO 12620:2009. Anyone can view data categories in this environment or register as an expert and actually create, select and save data categories or Data Category Selections. The current collection of terminological data categories is also available at: http://www.ttt.org/clsframe/.

Discussion threads for International Terminology Summer School revealed

These are the 3 main discussion threads that will be discussed and debated during TSS 2009:

1. Tools:
Which CAT tools are good for whom?
What are the best approaches to create a database that follows best practices and is tailored to individual needs?
How can technology make your work-life as easy as possible?
This group can also make use of the computer lab for demonstrations.

2. Skills:
What kind of skills are required of a terminologist?
How do we identify these skills, use and enhance them?
How can one qualify as a terminologist and promote a career in the field?

3. Glossary
How does one create a terminology database or a glossary?
What approaches and tools can be used to analyze corpora and to identify and select “good” terms?
What are the criteria for writing useful and correct definitions or collecting meaningful contexts?
What kinds of organizational approaches do you need to consider in your daily work?
We will follow-up these topics in this blog and hope for many comments. You may also send us questions which we may discuss in the groups.

What interests the international terminology manager this year?

Hmm, interesting. We have just analysed what issues will be on top of the list of priorities for our TSS participants this year. Seems as if tools & co and web resources are quite popular. They will be considered accordingly – promise! Other topics found to be quite relevant (although in a more balanced way than the first two) are project management, copyright, training and skills discussion, standards and quality and ontologies (pretty much in this order). Thanks everybody, who sent us their rankings. This helps us and the trainers to refine and customize the programme.

International Terminology Summer School 2009

We at TermNet and the Cologne University of Applied Sciences are in the final preparations for this year’s TSS (Terminology Summer School). After five years of steeply rising participant numbers we had expected the global economic crisis to slow down participation (we always still expect terminology to be the first item to be cut on the budget list, don’t we?). It is difficult to judge if it actually did, but even if so, with 58 participants we find that many companies and organizations know that an investment in capacity building in terminology management is worth it even in times of recession. Very good! We see this as a positive sign that the importance of communication, information and knowledge. And we will not complain, because it it also tells us as the organizers a thing or two :-). This year will be extra intense as there is a parallel course on terminology and intercultural dialogue organized by a joint project of universities in Turkey, Romania, Austria and Germany (we are involved, of course). And in this course a group of 25 students will also discuss issues that are highly exciting. I will try to report regularly before and then every day during the course about what is happening in Cologne in the week from 6-10 July. It is going to be intense but good!