33Te minologija | 2012 | 19
Using in e na ional s anda ds
o e minology exchange
KLAUS-DIRK SCHMITZ
CologneUni e si yo AppliedSciences
KEYWORDS: e minology managemen , e minology exchange, s anda ds, da a ca ego ies, TBX
1. MOTIVATION
The c ea ion o high-quali y e minology and p o essional e minology
managemen a e bo h ime-consuming and cos -in ensi e ac i i ies. The
access o and he euse o al eady exis ing e minological esou ces can
conside ably educe he e o o e minology wo k. These economic
issues a e in many cases he main a gumen s o he in e es in e minol-
ogy exchange.
Bu he e a e a lo o o he easons why e minology exchange is so
impo an . T ansla ion business ac i i ies be ween clien s, language se ice
p o ide s and eelance ansla o s equi e a ans e o e minological da a
in bo h di ec ions. Companies p o ide e minology o suppo ansla ion
p ojec s and ansla o s e u n e minological esou ces hey ha e upda ed
du ing he ansla ion job. And he consis en use o e minology in la ge
p ojec s wi h se e al indi idual ansla o s can only be gua an eed, i all
pe sons in ol ed will ha e access o he same e minological da a esou ces;
bu di e en e minology managemen ools and indi idually designed
e minology da abases complica e he lossless and consis en exchange o
e minological da a.
A inal impo an scena io o he exchange o e minological da a is
he mig a ion o e minological da a collec ions om one sys em o
ano he . This may be necessa y i a company o eelance changes he
ools p o ide and has o con e he e minology om he old e minol-
ogy managemen sys em o he new ool, bu also i e minological da a
a e needed in o he p og ams like con en managemen sys ems o ( ule-
based) machine ansla ion sys ems.
Bu a simple and easy e minology exchange in all hese scena ios can
be p oblema ic, since he echnical equi emen s o e minology manage-
34 Klaus-Di k Schmi z | Usingin e na ionals anda ds       
| o  e minologyexchange
men (languages, da a ca ego ies, da a alue se s) can be qui e di e en
depending on he needs o he espec i e use g oups and he o ganiza-
ional en i onmen s.
2. REQUIREMENTS
Exchange ou ines be ween wo speci ic e minology da abases a e ypi-
cally de eloped indi idually, aking in o accoun he exis ing impo and
expo ou ines and o ma s o he wo sys ems in ol ed. I is also necessa y
o know he da a models and he “seman ics” o he da a ca ego ies o bo h
sys ems. I da a exchange is needed be ween mo e han wo sys ems, he
numbe o necessa y con e sion ou ines will inc ease apidly. Tha is why
he e is a s ong demand o s anda dized exchange o ma s, whe e each o
he pa icipa ing e minology managemen sys ems has o p o ide only a
ea u e o he impo o da a om he s anda dized exchange o ma and
only a ea u e o he expo in o he s anda d exchange o ma .
One o he mos amous and o en p o ided o ma s is CSV (comma-
sepa a ed alues). This o ma sepa a es in o ma ion by commas o abs and
da a eco ds by e u ns o pa ag aph ma ks. Al hough indi idual da a a e
usually sepa a ed om each o he , he meaning and in e p e a ion o he
indi idual da a is unclea and no explici ly laid down in he CSV o ma .
Fig. 1: Da a om a Mul i e m 2011 e mbase expo ed in CSV o ma
The CSV o ma is o en used o con e da a o and om Excel sp ead-
shee s. Some imes you will ind names o he columns speci ied in he
i s line o he exchange ile, which allows in e ences o be made abou
35Te minologija | 2012 | 19
he seman ics o he ollowing da a. Bu his can only wo k i he s uc u e
o he e minological da a is no oo complex and i each eco d con ains
he same ype and numbe o da a; a iable da a (e.g. a di e en numbe
o e ms in se e al languages) will shi he columns and will make i
impossible o in e p e he da a co ec ly.
Using ma kup languages such as XML (ex ensible ma kup language)
ci cum en s exac ly his p oblem. Each indi idual piece o in o ma ion
ca ies he seman ic o i s meaning in a so-called ag, and he g ouping and
alloca ion o each da a i em is uniquely de ined by he XML s uc u e.
Fig. 2: Da a om a Mul i e m 2011 e mbase expo ed in XML o ma
Figu e 2 shows he beginning o he CSV exchange ile o Figu e 1 in
XML o ma , namely in he speci ic Mul iTe m 2011 XML o ma used
o he con e sion o Mul iTe m da abases.
3. SOLUTION
We a e now no a away om achie ing a well-de ined s anda dized
exchange o ma . I is only necessa y o s anda dize he ma kup in he
angle b acke s, he ags and he ype a ibu es, o p o ide a so-called
“blind exchange” be ween e minology da abases. Blind means ha you
do no need o know he s uc u e, he da a ca ego ies, and hei alues
in he o igina ing and in he a ge e mbase. This is exac ly wha he
ISO 30042:2008 s anda d, speci ying TBX (Te m Base eXchange) a emp s
o accomplish. TBX is based on ISO 16642:2003, de ining a e mino-
logical me a-model wi h se e al le els and s uc u al elemen s o he
36 Klaus-Di k Schmi z | Usingin e na ionals anda ds       
| o  e minologyexchange
XML ile, and on ISOCAT (www.isoca .o g), speci ying e minological
da a ca ego ies acco ding o ISO 12620:2009. Figu e 3 shows a simpli ied
ex ac o a e minological en y in TBX ep esen a ion.
Fig. 3: Simpli ied example o a BX ile
TBX is speci ied as a single in e na ional s anda d, bu one will ecognize
when consul ing he documen and he ISOca websi e ha he e exis di -
e en a ian s o TBX. The s anda d i sel de ines some hing like a amily
o TBX-compa ible o ma s, whe e TBX-De aul suppo s he whole se o
e minological da a ca ego ies o he TBX amily and TBX-Basic only uses
a smalle subse o da a ca ego ies in o de o acili a e simple impo and
expo ou ines o speci ic use g oups and less complex da abases.
4. CHALLENGES
Al hough TBX is a well-de ined ISO s anda d, wo p oblems ha e o
be men ioned which may ex emely complica e he exchange o e mi-
nological da a: a lacking s ic ness o TBX in some a eas and he lexibil-
i y o mode n e minology managemen sys ems.
Among o he s, TBX a emp s o s anda dize he pe missible ins ances
o closed da a ca ego ies, i.e. he alues ha can occu . This migh
wo k p ope ly o ce ain da a ca ego ies such as g amma ical gende
(gende = m / / n), bu is doomed o ailu e o a da a ca ego y such
as subjec ield, because he e exis s no (ideal) subjec ield classi ica ion
37Te minologija | 2012 | 19
ha is app op ia e o all use needs and all a eas o applica ion. The e-
o e, a comple ely “blind” da a exchange using TBX canno be gua an-
eed o all da a ca ego ies, since TBX canno speci y he possible alues
o da a ca ego ies such as subjec ield.
Te minology managemen sys em should p o ide impo and expo
in e aces suppo ing he TBX s anda d. Some sys em de elope s s a e
explici ly ha hei so wa e is able o impo and expo iles acco ding
o he TBX o ma . Howe e , his can only be ue i he e minology
managemen sys em has a ixed p ede e mined en y s uc u e wi h p e-
se da a ca ego ies; only in his case he sys em de elope will know he
seman ics o he da a ca ego ies and can adequa ely ep esen hem in
TBX expo iles o in e p e hem in TBX impo iles. Bu i he e mi-
nology managemen sys ems equi es / allows ha he use speci ies he
da a model and he da a ca ego ies acco ding o his speci ic needs (e.g.
Mul iTe m), o a leas modi ies a p ese da a modelling (e.g. c ossTe m,
qTe m o Te mS a ), he sys em de elope will no be able o p o ide a
clean TBX in e ace, because he canno know he seman ics o he use -
de ined da a ca ego ies. To compensa e cases like his, only wo solu ions
(ou side o TBX) a e possible: ei he a speci ic mapping ool helps he use
o map his own da a ca ego ies o he s anda dized ISOca ca ego ies, o
he use c ea es his own e minology da abase on he basis o he s and-
a dized da a ca ego ies in ISOca di ec ly om he beginning.
5. CONCLUSION
ISO/TC37, he in e na ional echnical commi ee o he s anda diza-
ion o e minology, has de eloped and published se e al s anda ds ha
di ec ly ela es o he exchange o e minological da a (e.g. ISO
30042:2008 o TBX). Bu also o he TC37 s anda ds can be used o
he selec ion o e minological da a ca ego ies and o modelling e mi-
nology da abases in o de o acili a e and ensu e he exchange o e -
minological da a.
Since he e a e undamen al p oblems wi h mode n e minology man-
agemen sys ems wi h espec o he suppo o exchange o ma s such as
TBX, he exchange issue has o be aken in o accoun when designing a
solu ion o e minology managemen o companies and eelance s.
W ong decisions and mis aken selec ions o da a ca ego ies will hinde
u u e exchange o e minological da a and can only be epai ed wi h
g ea e o . ISO s anda ds such as ISO 12620:2009 and ISO 26162:2012

38 Klaus-Di k Schmi z | Usingin e na ionals anda ds       
| o  e minologyexchange
as well as he Da a Ca ego y Regis y (www.isoca .o g) will suppo use s
o design p o essional and s a e-o - he-a e minology managemen sys-
ems allowing o s anda d-based e minology in e change.
BIBLIOGRaPHY
ISO 12620:2009 Te minologyando he languageandcon en  esou ces–Speci ica iono da aca ego iesand
managemen o aDa aCa ego yRegis y o language esou ces. Gene a: ISO.
ISO 16642:2003 Compu e applica ionsin e minology–Te minologicalma kup amewo k. Gene a: ISO.
ISO 26162:2012 Sys ems omanage e minology,knowledgeandcon en –Design,implemen a ionandmain e-
nanceo  e minologymanagemen sys ems. Gene a: ISO.
ISO 30042:2008 Sys ems omanage e minology,knowledgeandcon en –Te mBaseeXchange(TBX). Gene a: ISO.
Melby A. K., Schmi z K.-D., W igh S. E. 2001: Te minology In e change. – Handbooko Te minologyMan-
agemen ,Volume 2, W igh S. E., Budin G. (eds.), Ams e dam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 613–642.
Schmi z K.-D. 2004: Te minologiea bei und Te minog aphie. – Angewand eLinguis ik–EinLeh buc, Knapp
K. e al. (H sg.), Tübingen/Basel: F ancke, 435–456.
Schmi z K.-D. 2008: Bedeu ung on No mung und Te minologiea bei ü die Technische Dokumen a ion. –
Te minologiea bei  ü TechnischeDokumen a ion.(= ekomSch i enzu  echnischenKommunika ion12);
Hennig J., Tja ks-Sobhani M. (H sg.), Lübeck: Schmid -Römhild, 11–17.
Schmi z K.-D., S aub D. 2010: Success ulTe minologyManagemen inCompanies–P ac ical ipsandguide-
lines, S u ga : TC and Mo e.
aRP aU INIŲ S aNDaR Ų NaUDOJIMaS ERMINOLOGIJOS MaINaMS
K uopš us e minologijos da bas i p o esionali e minijos a kyba įmonėms i lais-
ai samdomiems da buo ojams y a daug laiko i išlaidų eikalaujan i eikla. Ją ge okai
paleng in ų p ieiga p ie esamų e minologinių iš eklių i jų panaudojimas. Klien ų,
e imo paslaugas eikiančių įmonių i e ėjų bend a imui i bend ada bia imui ei-
kalingas duomenų pe da imas į ai iomis k yp imis. Ski ingos e minologijos a ky-
bos sis emos i nesude in i, a ski i e minologinių iš eklių duomenų modeliai gali
ukdy i e minologinių duomenų mainams a užki s i jiems kelią.
ISO/TK37 – a p au inis e minologijos i ki ų kalbos bei u inio iš eklių s anda i-
za imo echnikos komi e as – pa engė i išleido kele ą s anda ų, ski ų e minologinių
duomenų mainams (p z., TBX mainų o ma ui ski as ISO 30042). Pasi enkan inka-
mas e minologinių duomenų ka ego ijas i modeliuojan e minologinių duomenų
bazes, galima em is i ki ais ISO/TK37 s anda ais, ku ių aikymas paleng in ų e mi-
nologinių duomenų impo ą i ekspo ą iš ki ų iš eklių.
S aipsnyje kalbama apie bend uosius e minologinių duomenų mainų ikslus, p in-
cipus i p oblemas, supažindinama su a p au iniais s anda us, ski ais eiksmingus
duomenų mainus už ik inančioms e minologijos a kybos sis emoms ku i, aiškina-
mas TBX mainų o ma o aikymas.
Gau a 2012-11-18
Klaus-Di k Schmi z
Cologne Uni e si y o Applied Sciences
Ins i u e o T ansla ion and Mul ilingual Communica ion
Ubie ing 48, 50678 Cologne, Ge many
E-mail klaus.schmi z@ h-koeln.de