The content and layout of the Terms and Definitions section of an ISO standard,
or of a separate standalone ISO glossary,
are governed by well-established terminology management principles which are defined
by ISO Technical Committee 37. These principles are outlined in this section. For
more detailed information, refer to ISO 704: Terminology Work - Principles and
methods.
Each entry describes one concept
The terms and definitions are organized into numbered clauses, each of which
describes one and only one concept. Each clause, which is called an "entry",
corresponds to one <termEntry>. If multiple terms are used for the same
concept, this set of synonymous terms are all documented within the same entry, each
within its own <tig> element.
If a term has multiple meanings, each meaning shall be documented in a separate
entry. In this case, the entries will contain the same term. Normally, each entry
would be restricted to a different subject field.
Choosing a preferred term
When more than one term is used for a concept (i.e., there are
synonyms), one of the terms shall be chosen as the preferred term, and shall
be marked as such by associating a <normativeAuthorization> element with
this term. This preferred term shall be predominately used to refer to the concept
in the body of the standard. The other terms may have a normativeAuthorization vaue,
such as admittedTerm or deprecatedTerm if it is desired to indicate
their usage, however this is not required.
Avoiding ambiguous terms
It is extremely important to avoid the use of ambiguous terms, not only
in the Terms and Definitions section of a standard, but in the whole body of the
standard itself. For instance, using the same term to designate different concepts
is highly discouraged especially when these different usages are not differentiated
by subject field. Ambiguity may also result when one or more of words in a
multi-word term are dropped in an effort to be concise. For instance, shortening
"class attribute" to simply "attribute" would result in ambiguity in a standard
where attributes are associated with things other than classes.
Assigning a term type value
In the case of synonyms described above, often the synonyms correspond
to abbrevations or spelling variants of a term, or even a representation of the
concept in the form of a formula, symbol, or equation. In this case it is necessary
to identify the "type" of term, by using the <termType> element.
Defining the term
Each entry requires a definition. The definition is extremely important
and shall therefore be drafted very carefully. Definitions shall be drafted in
accordance with ISO 704. Definitions shall only contain the essential information to
describe the concept, and therefore shall not contain notes, examples, usage notes,
or other extraneous information. Dedicated elements are available for each of these
types of information. Definitions are normally expressed in a single sentence. If
the definition describes a concept that is restricted to a specific area or
application, use the <subjectField> element to specify the subject
field.
If the definition originates from another standard, this source shall be added after
the definition, in the <source> element.
Adding cross references
Cross references are used to point readers to the entries of terms
that have a similar, related meaning. To add a cross reference, use
<crossReference> for pointers to other entries in the same standard, and
<externalCrossReference> to point to entries in other standards.
Cross references will appear after the words "Related term:", after the
definition.
To hilight a term in a definition that is also defined in Section 3, use
<entailedTerm> around the term, within the definition. Referencing other sections of the standard
Sometimes it is useful to point the reader to another section
of the standard, such as a table or figure, for additional information about
the term and concept. For this purpose, use the element <see>.
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