finnterm - corporate glossary system
/ 26 Sep 2009
finnterm is a powerful web-based corporate knowledge management system. It enables organisations to create and maintain an unified terminology. Entries in a centralised glossary system are meshed-up with content from external sources like translations, encyclopedias, or personalized content. All content is delivered directly to where it is needed most: embedded into corporate websites, training material and other electronic media.
finnterm is offered as “software as a service” and has an extremely light foot-print: including one line of JavaScript gives your website the full finnterm functionality.
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[1] Create a central data base by importing company terminology (XML, XLS, etc.). |
The finnterm tools
finnterm can easily be integrated into the existing company infrastructure. The service combines four interacting tools.
(1) Glossary Admin Tool – Create
- Collection, storage and management of multi-language terminology through a centralised interface.
- Real-time changes without technical complexities.
- Secured multistage content development and maintenance.
- Fine-grained roles & authorisation management.
- Import and export of terminology in various formats (XML, XLS, PDF).
- Filtering of glossary content with pre-defined criteria (status, author, language, date of change, etc.).
- Administration of references and links to supplementary information per term.
(2) Mesh-up Admin Tool – Combine
- Enrichment of corporate glossary with content from various external data sources, e.g. multi-language translations, professional terminology, encyclopedias.
- Administration of external content availability.
- Easy integration of translation services through close cooperation with corporate web services, e.g. PONS Corporate Web Service.
- Fewer corporate resources need to be translated “manually” (e.g. web-based trainings, intranet pages, research, etc).
- Mesh-up of translation results and glossary makes corporate terminology accessible for non-native speakers.
(3) Mouse-Selection Tool – Use
- Direct access to company terminology, expressions or definitions without leaving the website.
- Provide additional external services, e.g. sophisticated multi-language translations, directly within a website or web-based content.
- The tool allows easy handling and understanding of foreign language texts and anchoring of company knowledge.
- Integration of multi-language dictionaries reduces language barriers and increases language proficiency of users.
- Minimisation of translation errors, quicker understanding, better learning.
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[1] Highlight any character string for definition or translation. |
(4) finnSearch – Use
- Combined search within corporate glossary and external resources such as dictionaries through one search mask (company-specific information is prioritized within search result).
- Display of multi-language search results from glossary; general translations and additional resources and explanations.
- Ignoring imprecise search terms and minor typing errors (fuzzy search).
- Auto-completion of search terms, full text search, search for precise topics.
- Display of links to specific, corporate resources and additional supplementary information, e.g. training material, research etc., through context sensitive search.
- Multi-language user interface.
- Integrated user feedback to specific search entries.
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[1] Search with auto-completion, fuzzy search, context sensitive search. |
Success story: finnterm @ Siemens AG
Global companies, such as the Siemens AG with affiliated companies and subsidiaries in more than 190 countries, use English as corporate language. This implies that many employees are working, learning and communicating in a foreign language. Especially, centrally provided resources, e.g. web-based training material, glossaries and company specific terminology, are not translated individually.
finnterm was implemented successfully with all four modules to enable Siemens to easily manage and administer their company-wide corporate terminology. A central web service provides multi-language translations, definitions and links to further resources. It can be accessed from employees all over the world from the intranet; furthermore it is directly embedded within web-based training manuals and other educational material.
Costs for learning and training development as well as for individual manual translations are reduced. The consistent and single source data base eases maintenance and administration. Translation mistakes or misunderstandings are eliminated. finnterm ensures easy handling, learning and understanding of foreign language texts and reduces language barriers within the Siemens company.
Integrating finnterm in 3 easy steps
- Consolidate your company’s terminology. Enter new glossary entries and manage the existing content base. Terms and definitions from legacy content management systems or other corporate sources can be imported (e .g. from XLS or XML file), making the conversion easy and cost-efficient.
- Choose external content sources from a menue. Which sources do you wish to integrate? Sources can be ranked in relevance, allowing for priorities in display and search results.
- Deploy the finnterm Mouse-Selection Tool. One line of JavaScript is enough. The look and feel of the lookup-tools and content presentation is fully customizable – finnterm integrates seamlessly into your website.
finnlabs is looking forward to discuss and design with you the optimal integration of finnterm within your company. Small integration projects ensure a professional, quick and comfortable implementation.