Normalization 2000+ (1996 edition)     
"Babylonical" Standardization
Mevr. Drs. Helmi B. Sonneveld
(translation by G.J. Aben)

Changed, 3 July 1998
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Uniform terminology is important. For science and technology and by that also for the economy it is necessary that the communication of information is as accurate and efficient as possible. Caused by the multifarious synonymy within a language, also within technical languages, the desired efficiency of communication is decreasing: synonymy is leading to problems, to loss of time and money. The same applies to the vagueness that is often inherent to language. Controlled and precise use of language is of essential importance in science and technology. This to insure a fast exchange of information and for the possibilities to an efficient, automated management of large quantities of data. Caused by the increasing demands for information, the resulting need for effective and advanced information systems has become more important.

There are many types of online data bases that can provide the user with several types of information. In practice however, it appears that the possibilities of the modern technology and the exponential growth of the available information could lead to large communication problems. Also the request of information from these systems is attended with large problems.

It is a paradox that in the age of the increasing number of specialization’s, science and technology are becoming more and more interdisciplinary of nature. Beside that, the fast developments in science and technology and the new means of exchange of information will lead to restrictions for certain language expressions. For the purpose of systemizing the information (to be specified in data bases) or analyzing large quantities of data gathered from several systems, the vocabularies in a certain field of expertise should be controlled. "Be controlled" in this context means that there is a large need for terms that can follow the developments within a field of expertise and which are supporting the development of consistent vocabularies. For an efficient use of terminological data bases it is required to have trustworthy, (in other words, standardized) terminology or nomenclature. The field of expertise in terminology and the related methods and principles can be a source of information and support.

In many fields of expertise the experts have discovered that there is an almost no harmonization about the meaning of terms. As said, it is essential for unambiguously communication, that consensus is reached about the meaning of terms in the several fields of expertise. Nobody will oppose this issue, but many critical statements are pronounced, related to the (scientific) possibility to reach consensus about the meaning of a term (not dependent on the field of expertise in particular). Why should there, it is said, exist more than 20 000 committees (spread all over the world) working at terminological questions and nomenclature in the field of biotechnology alone? The use of terminology can lead the an increased unity, consistency and clearance when specifying terms in the fields of expertise.

Legislation:

Within companies, there is a distinct need for exact and good specified terminology. Terms have, as said, an increasing role as descriptors in data bases that are available or that are made available, in many countries to provide information about governmental legislation’s and - standards. In the Dutch language area there is still no activity in the field of terminology and eventually activities are not coordinated.

To change that, the Dutch Standardization Institute (NEN), the Belgian Institute for Standardization (BIN) and the Dutch Language Union has erected (at the end of the eighties) a Co-operative Union for Dutch Linguistic Terminology (SaNT).

Mile stones are:

	the erection of an acceptance procedure for terminology lists;
	the arrangement of a bibliography of lists with Dutch terminology in the fields of expertise, and
	the installation and organization of a two-yearly event "the day of terminology".

The committee 400 037 "Terminology", presided by the Dutch Standardization Institute, is engaged with the work (for the Dutch Language area) related to terminological standards, which are created and issued by the Technical Committee "Terminology" of the International Standardization Organization (ISO TC 37).

The most important standards in this field are:

	ISO 1087: 1990 Terminology - Vocabulary.
	ISO CD 1087-2: 1993 Terminology Work - Vocabulary - Part 2: Computational Aids in Terminology.
	ISO DIS 12200: 1993 Computational Aids in Terminology - Terminology Interchange Format (TIF) - An SGML Application
	ISO DIS 12620.4: 1994 Computational Aids in Terminology - Data Element Dictionary
	ISO 704: 1987 Principles and Methods of Terminology

Considering the European Co-operation (stimulated by the Committee of the European Union, DG XIII) a lot of attention is spent to the arrangement of terminology networks. In accordance with the POINTER project (Proposals for an Operational Infrastructure for Terminology in Europe) more than 40 organizations, spread out over all the countries within the European Union, an inventory project is made concerning all the activities and sources on the field of terminology. The results of the POINTER project, rounded up shortly, will be the creation of a threefold infrastructure: ELRA (European Languages Resources Association), EAFT (European Association for Terminology), ETIS (European Terminology Information Server).

Standardization of terminology, the process:

The phases in the process of standardization of terminology:

1 Delimitation:

	It must be decided which fields (or parts of fields) of expertise, should be taken up in the terminology list and in which language, or languages, these field must be specified.
	The number of terms (for each field of expertise) that should be taken up into the terminology list , must be determined.
	The categories which must be specified in the terminology list should be determined, such as: term, definition, equivalent in 1 or more languages, code, the date of issue, etc.

2 Use of sources:

	Which sources are used as base for the terms and definitions to be determined.
	The underlying structure of concepts and terms should be specified.
	Entries from sources should be selected.

3 The terminology product (the list or database) is filled in.

4 The matching indices (alphabetical or systematic) must be created.

5 Guidelines for the maintenance of the terminology list or -database must be specified.

The standardization Institutes ..... ..... For your information: after the Second World War the activities in the field of terminology are increased exponentially, as the result of the following factors:

	Increase of the number of researchers (according to UNESCO) at global level:
	in 1800 about 1000 researchers
	in 1850 about 10.000 researchers
	in 1900 about 100.000 researchers
	in 1950 about 1.000.000 researchers
	in 2000 ???
	Increase of the number of 'technical languages" of about 60 in 1950 up to more than 200 today.
	Increase of the number of fields of expertise and specialization’s of about 5000 in 1955 up to more than 30.000 today.
	Probable more than 50 million terms in science and technology; yearly increase of 5-15% (in accordance to the increase of human knowledge).
	Increase of commercial transactions; the number of countries involved with the international commerce for which increasingly translation and localization activities are necessary.
	Development of the "Global Information Society" (the impact of Internet and the World Wide Web) which will be multilingual of nature.

To make head against these developments, a structured approach of the terminology problem is essential.

The full text of the presentation is available for:
- members of NKN at no charge, or
- non-members for a small donation (at least the copying and mailing costs)
  to be used for the further development of NKN.