Terminology Management and Localization Services

Standardizing Business Terminology through Localization Management

It is estimated that 15 percent of all globalization project costs arise from rework and that the primary cause of rework is inconsistent terminology. As businesses expand, they face the challenge of maintaining a consistent corporate "language." Inconsistencies are minor in isolation, but when different functional groups or regions work together on product development or marketing programs, terminology differences become a source of frequent rework and costly delays.

Terminology Management is the process Lionbridge uses to formalize a company's internal jargon. Identifying, capturing, and deploying this unique terminology requires a comprehensive effort that includes:

• Determining the scope of terminology management needs and the potential benefits of standardization
• Reviewing any preexisting glossaries, style guides, or formal communication formats to identify the core terminology base
• Establishing a workflow process that catalogs, reviews, approves, and deploys new terminology to all stakeholders and users
• Establishing a single accepted translation for each term within each of the target languages
• Providing access to the approved term base to internal authors, marketing communicators, and external vendors

By working with Lionbridge language asset management consultants and terminology architects, you can establish a common terminology that eliminates inconsistencies and dramatically reduces your localization costs.

Integrated Online Terminology Management Using Freeway™ and Logoport™

A terminology (or "glossary") is a key component to delivering consistent, high quality technical translations that retain the overall tone and "voice' of the source materials. This is especially true in the case of tight deadlines when a translation team may be working on various elements of a full project simultaneously.

To maximize the value of glossaries and ease of maintenance, Freeway™, Lionbridge's hosted technology platform, relies on the proven linguistic capabilities of the Logoport™ language asset management system. With Logoport, contributors have direct role-based online access to:

• Create, suggest and edit terms
• Search, filter and sort
• Assign custom attributes
• Import and export terminology sets

Logoport also allows for terminology sharing across divisions, departments and product lines, to improve enterprise-wide consistency, while still allowing for specific messaging for particular audiences and products.

With Logoport, terminology management is fully integrated into the translation process, along with the translation memory. Using a just-in-time terminology popup facility, the translator's interface proactively alerts the translator to the right term at the right time ensuring adherence to company terminology and improving quality and consistency of your message. Controlling this at the time of translation increases translator productivity and accelerates the QA review, reducing overall turn-around time.