Cardinal Virtues in Terminology Management

S/he who followeth these rules shall live long and prosper!

And pass the course with a good grade.

• Thou shalt always begin by entering the English term (in group projects where English is the pivot language; this is not so important in thine own private database).
• Terms shall always be lowercase unless they are spelled with uppercase in context (e.g., German nouns, proper nouns in other languages).
• Thou shalt place only one term and no more than one term in a term index field; thou shalt create separate index fields for each term, including each acronym, synonym, etc.
• Thou shalt not embed synonyms, etc., in definitions or notes.
• Thou shalt observe proper form for definitions:
  • Definitions shall always begin with a capital letter and end with a period.
  • Definitions shall be stated as predicates:
  • Thou shalt not repeat the term in the definition.
  • Thou shalt not use a finite verb in an independent clause.
  • Thou shalt avoid introductory phrases such as: term that refers to, se refiere a …. Phrases related to scope are OK, e.g., in metalworking …; in HTML
• Definitions shall not contain additional sentences: thou shalt either incorporate additional information into the single definition statement or move this info, if useful, to a note or perhaps a context.
• Thou shalt always document the source of definitions, contexts, and in some cases, notes, if thou hast taken them from other sources.
• Thou shalt ensure that new terms, definitions, contexts, etc., pertain to the concept covered by other information in an existing entry.
• Thou shalt create or find another/the other entry to document a term that is a homograph representing a different concept.

Quality Check List

Terminology Management FAQ