3.3.5. Compiling term extraction Results

Terminology Case Files

All of the terms and textual supports (definition, contexts, usage samples, phraseologisms), resulting from term extraction and pertaining to a single concept, including terminologists' observations or subject field specialists' opinions, are grouped together in an analysis tool called a terminology case file. Grouping the collected information is the most delicate and complex step in terminological analysis. In this step you analyze information concerning the semantic features of the concept, rate the correctness of the terms that designate the concept (possibly formulating a definition), and select the pertinent textual supports that will be entered on a record to be presented to an official approval or standardization committee or for publication.

In comparative terminology, the terminology case file includes a component for each of the languages involved.

For each textual support, references are made to the documentation that has been consulted or scanned for terms. This file may be in hardcopy or electronic form and may deal with a single record or become a collection of texts pertaining to a given theme. You may also use the case file to produce a monolingual document synthesizing the results of a terminological analysis, of the type that certain terminology data banks make accessible to users through a querying option. In TERMIUM Plus^®, for example, the synthesis is called a complementary document.