Developments in European information issues: Networks and relays – Services – Products, May 2000

TERMINOLOGICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM ON THE WEB

Terminological Information System on the Web is a simplified version of the terminological database used by the translators and terminology team working in the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. The pilot version just mounted is experimental and open for comments and suggestions. As well as allowing users to search for translations of terms or abbreviations, it offers mail boxes for online linguistic or technical help.

Designed as a working tool for Council translators, it covers the official languages of the EU together with Irish and Latin. The system currently has over 200,000 records, 45% of which contain entries in three or more languages and it is growing at the rate of some 4,000 translations per month. The translations and their definitions very much reflect the work of the Council and should be viewed in that context. They may not always be more widely applicable.

The enquiry interface is very simple. The source and target languages can be selected from drop down menus, then users specify a phrase or abbreviation enquiry and a normal or exact search. The normal search retrieves all records where the term is included, while the exact search picks only those records where the source language term is exactly as entered. Precise phrase searching is therefore possible. To narrow the search subject areas can optionally be selected. This may be done by displaying the alphabetical list then clicking on the appropriate code which is transferred into the search box. More than one subject code can be selected with the OR operator automatically inserted. When entering text, either upper or lower case may be used but no articles or accents are needed. The asterisk will replace several characters at the beginning, middle or end of a word. Alternatively the underscore character replaces a single character in any position. Clicking on the search button will produce a list of hits displayed in a table format with the search term highlighted. The default is 25 hits but this can be changed to a maximum setting of 200 if required. More information can be displayed by clicking on the number which appears at the beginning of the line in the table. The definitions give document references of examples of usage, source information and an explanation of where the term originated as well as cross references. For example a search on SIDA as a French abbreviation spells out what the letters represent in French and gives the English abbreviation as AIDS. It explains what that stands for, and records details of variant forms, together with documents illustrating its origin and use and dictionaries used as sources of the definitions. It also includes a cross reference to HIV. By clicking on the live language links on the right of the screen other language information can be called up where available. The database is also useful for translations of committee names, so if you need to find the correct form of the Panel on Canned Peaches, Canned Pears, Canned Fruit Cocktail and Dried Grapes in another language - or perhaps more likely, the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures - try TIS on the web at http://tis.consilium.eu.int/utfwebtis/welcomeEN.htm

PRESS WATCH FROM STOREY'S GATE

The Representation of the European Commission in the UK produces an occasional series called Press Watch which refutes inaccurate and distorted news stories published in the national press and explains the facts behind the claims. The latest issue, the ninth in the series, is available on the Representation's website at http://www.cec.org.uk/press/pw/pw0009.htm