4.8.3. Criteria

Here are some functionalities you should look for in a terminology publication tool:

• The tool must be able to handle the data in the languages you need. For example, if you are publishing terminological data in African languages, your publication software has to be able to import and print African characters. It seems obvious, but failing to consider this requirement is a common mistake.
• It must be able to handle absolute alphabetical ordering and re-ordering of terminology entries (terms, synonyms, abbreviations) for easy consultation and updating since each language has its own alphabetical sort order. For example, a list of French terms sorted by English sort order would result in the words beginning with the accented letters (for example, é) listed after "Z" at the end. The table presents an example of incorrect and correct French sort order.

Example

For the following entry, if you want your users to be able to access a term, its synonyms and abbreviations, you would need publication software that can automatically order the entry under E, and automatically re-order it under D, I and T.

Entries

• educational material
• instructional material
• didactic material
• teaching material