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A glossary for the ESS Marc Debusschere

A glossary for the ESS Marc Debusschere. Agenda point 14 Dissemination Working Group 25-26 October 2012. The situation now. Glossaries = sets of short and easily understandable definitions very important for users ( and n ot just for statistical terms! )

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A glossary for the ESS Marc Debusschere

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  1. A glossary for the ESSMarc Debusschere Agenda point 14 Dissemination Working Group 25-26 October 2012

  2. The situation now • Glossaries = sets of short and easilyunderstandabledefinitions • very important for users (and not just for statistical terms!) • available in someform on most NSI websites • require considerable resources • major problems from ESS perspective: • duplication withinNSIs & Eurostat • duplication across ESS • hence: waste of resources • lack of integration and coherence • … and tooseldomtherewhenyouneedthem! 2

  3. Problem: duplication • Within NSIs • reproducedendlessly, often (slightly) different, no central 'mother' version • even within one repository: same label, same content? • http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ramon/nomenclatures/index.cfm?TargetUrl=LST_NOM_DTL_GLOSSARY&StrNom=CODED2&StrLanguageCode=EN • (Eurostat – Coded: Concepts and DefinitionsDatabase) Across the ESS • every NSI createsown English version! • Examples for grossdomesticproduct (GDP): • http://www.stat.gov.pl/gus/definicje_ENG_HTML.htm?id=ANG-662.htm(GUS, PL) • http://www.cbs.nl/en-GB/menu/methoden/begrippen/default.htm?Languageswitch=on&ConceptID=3117 (CBS, NL) • http://www.insee.fr/en/methodes/default.asp?page=definitions/produit-inter-brut-prix-march.htm (INSEE, FR) 3

  4. Problem: lack of integration • across concepts • synonyms (disambiguation, redirects) • different levels, hierarchical relations • related terms • abbreviations • across languages: no access to translations • also technical issue: inadequate overall information architecture 4

  5. The result • Waste of resources • NSIs duplicate workdoneelsewhere • whilelacking the means to do all theyintend and maintain high quality • aggravated by stretched budgets and cuts ! • Lacking user-friendliness • duplication and lack of clarity and distinction lead to confusion and even wrong interpretation • usersshouldbe able to accessdefinitionswhenevertheyneedthem 5

  6. Room for improvement?Statistics Explained glossary • http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Thematic_glossaries • Mediawiki-based (like Wikipedia) • user-friendly navigation: not justtraditionalglossaryenvironment to the side, but accessible fromeverycontext a termisused • good tools to layer, link, redirect, disambiguate, … • optimal integration of language versions • commonworkingplatform to extend and improve • powerfulversioning • commonrepository for re-use in all output to users (StatisticsExplainedarticles but alsopaper publications) 6

  7. Proposal for comment & discussion:building an ESS glossary • usingStatisticsExplained infrastructure • participation voluntary • 'open source' principle, results free for all (including non-participants) • mother version English (to beimproved and expanded as well!) • modularintegration of language versions • commonworkingplatform for expanding and improving content • commonrepository for possible re-use in all output (includingpaper publications) 7

  8. Potential benefits • For NSIs: • higheroverallqualityby collaboration of content specialists, communicators and native speakers in wide range of languages • resource-saving, benefitingfromothers' contributions • better service to users: more languages for everyone • For Eurostat and StatisticsExplained: • in addition to the onesmentionedabove: • more and betterbackground to existingother-language content 8

  9. Potential benefits • For the ESS as a whole: • improved ESS-widecoherence of definitions • improvedcoherence and integration of languages • efficiency gains: betterresultswithlessresources • For users: • direct access to definitions, fromany place • switch to more convenientlanguage version (and to terminology in otherlanguages) • less confusion betweensynonyms and related concepts 9

  10. Practical arrangements:a first outline • gentleman's or more formal agreement NSI-Eurostat • agreement betweensame-languageNSIsisdesirable (AT&DE&LU, BE&FR&LU, BE&NL, EL&CY, etc.) • access via ECAS interface (alreadyused for externalcontractors) • new language version of glossary page 'owned' by producing NSI, responsible for content • Eurostat responsible for format, interlinking and conformity to standards • on line after double validation, by NSI (content) and Eurostat (format) 10

  11. Remaining issuesStatistics Explained cannot solve everything … • user-oriented, hencelikely to diverge from • 'official' definitions (e.g. fromRegulation) • technical, extended, producer-orienteddefinitions (e.g. from Frascati Manual) • hard (but not impossible) to convertintorelationaldatabase 11

  12. Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Interest? Volunteers? 12

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