TshwaneTerm Terminology Management Software

TshwaneTerm
Overview
(PDF)

TshwaneTerm is an off-the-shelf software application for compiling and managing terminology databases (termbases). Its many innovative and unique features help terminology management teams to improve both the productivity of compilers, and the consistency and quality of the resulting terminology end-products. Storing and managing terminology data using industry standards such as XML and Unicode, TshwaneTerm assists terminology compilers in every step of the process, from planning, compiling and editing through to proofreading and publishing. Databases may be easily published on the Web or in hardcopy form, or exported for use by translators.

TshwaneTerm and TshwaneLex (the highly successful dictionary compilation software) are currently in use by over 300 individuals and organisations worldwide, including, amongst others, Oxford University Press, Macmillan, Van Dale Lexicografie, the South African National Lexicography Units, the Spanish Royal National Academy of Medicine, Grupo Clarín in Argentina, the South African Police Service, and Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (the Malaysian Institute of Language and Literature).

TshwaneDJe HLT also offers support, training, consulting and custom development services for all aspects of the terminology management process - both technical and linguistic - as well as data importers for loading existing data, or publishing of terminology databases and dictionaries electronically or online.

o A user-friendly design keeps initial training costs to a minimum, and underscores the principle that users should not need advanced computer literacy skills in order to use sophisticated terminology software.

o TshwaneTerm automates many tedious aspects of data entry for you, such as automatic numbering, and sorting of entries.

o A real-time entry preview updates as you edit, and shows you not only the current entry, but those following it, allowing you to quickly view and scroll through the entire terminology database.

o Multimedia support allows you to link images and sounds (e.g. pronunciation recordings) to entries.

o Essentially all of the world's languages are supported, thanks to full support for the industry standard international character set Unicode, integrated throughout every aspect of TshwaneTerm.

o Supports Windows IMEs (Input Method Editors) - data can be entered directly into TshwaneTerm using any of the so-called "soft keyboards" available in Microsoft Windows 2000 or Windows XP, such as those for Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Arabic. For the South African market, TshwaneTerm also includes built-in standards-based support for easily entering Venda, Afrikaans and Sotho/Tswana diacritics.

o Our innovative 'sort plug-in' architecture allows fully configurable sorting for any language.

o Multi-user support allows a team of users to work on a single terminology database simultaneously.

o The system keeps track of who edited what and when, and allows managers to track progress of each team member.

o An entry-locking system prevents changes made by one user from being overwritten by changes made by another user.

A DTD (Document Type Definition) is used to describe the structure of entries for each particular terminology project. This allows the structure to be fully customised by the user for each project (e.g. which languages to include). The TshwaneTerm DTD system is based on the industry standard XML DTD system.

o A user-friendly interface, supplemented with detailed documentation, allows end-users to configure their DTD without requiring assistance from an IT expert. A sensible default DTD also allows new users to get "up and running" within minutes, while template DTDs allow custom or standard DTDs to be easily re-used as starting points for new terminology projects.

o Constraints prevent users from creating invalid entries, thus ensuring consistency throughout the terminology database.

o Fields may to be restricted to selection from a closed list, e.g. a part of speech list.

o A comprehensive Styles system allows you to configure all aspects of the visual output of any field.

o Automatic numbering may be configured for any field.

o Multiple sets of styles may be defined, allowing multiple editions or 'views' to be generated from the same database, such as print vs. electronic/Web views. Combined with the Filter tool, which allows users to define criteria for viewing or exporting a subset of the data, this can be used to print "sub-dictionaries" from a single database, e.g. one could select to export all terminology related to a particular field as necessary, or for a particular language or language combination for regional terminology list distribution (for example, one could select to export a 'mini English - isiXhosa dictionary of just election-related terminology').

o Export your data to many formats, such as MS Word, OpenOffice, InDesign, XML, HTML or HTML/CSS.

o Fully-Integrated Corpus: Built-in corpus query functionality integrates directly into your workflow.

o Customising the language of the metalanguage: Change the language used to display labelling information such as part of speech, usage information and more.

o A full database search tool allows fast text searches on the entire database, with options such as case-sensitivity or whole-word/partial-word matching. Advanced users may also use regular expressions.

o The Compare/Merge tool allows different versions of a database to be visually compared with one another. Changes made by a user working at home or otherwise offline from the main database can be easily merged back into the main database.

o Built-in scripting language allows programmers to interface directly with TshwaneTerm, as well as create "calculation fields", similar in principle to Microsoft Excel formulas.

o An innovative and powerful Ruler Tool measures and monitors various aspects of progress, such as space allocation across alphabetic sections, providing a unique tool for planning and for ensuring balanced data.

o Free Reader: TshwaneReader: Freely downloadable application that can be used to view TshwaneTerm termbases, or make them available for use by translators.