What is ISO 12616‑1 about?
ISO 12616-1 is the first part of the multi-series of International Standard on ‘Language and terminology’. ISO 12616‑1 specifies requirements and recommendations related to fundamentals of translation-oriented terminography for producing sound bilingual or multilingual terminology collections.
ISO 12616‑1 also deals with the main tasks, skills, processes and technologies for translation-oriented terminography. This is practised by terminology workers who work in low-complexity settings as part of non-terminological activities.
Note: ISO 12616‑1 does not cover terminology management involving sophisticated workflows, a multitude of roles, or advanced terminological skills and competencies.
Who is ISO 12616‑1 for?
ISO 12616‑1 on translation-oriented terminography is useful for:
- Terminographers
- Translators
- Technical communicators
Why should you use ISO 12616‑1?
Terminography deals with compilation of the terminology used in a specific fields, domains and disciplines of special languages. Terminology work is conducted by people with different backgrounds and for different purposes. ISO 12616‑1 focuses on the fundamentals necessary to perform basic terminology work in translation contexts. While some details are occasionally given, ISO 12616‑1 provides the minimum information necessary to set up and work in the simplest form of a terminological data collection (TDC).
ISO 12616‑1 helps you by providing well-defined terminology that can help you communicate more efficiently across various industries,  reduces ambiguity and misinterpretation. All of this enables you to fully understand specific topics and gain expertise in the specified field of application.
What’s changed since the last update?
BS ISO 12616‑1:2021 replaces ISO 12616:2002. BS ISO 12616‑1:2021 includes some technical changes with respect to ISO 12616:2002. These include:
- Updates to focus on the broader environment in which terminology workers operate.
- Deepening of the aspect of terminological data management and addition of processes, tools and skills necessary for terminology tasks.
- Updates to align with the technical state-of-art and the evolution of the profession
