The Importance of Being Earnest about Definitions

: Ideas from terminology management, the science of terms and definitions, can be used to improve the quality of software and data models, as well as to facilitate the achievement of some of the current goals of computer science like the realization of the Semantic Web and the re-use of software components. This paper explains the principles and methods of terminology management and relates it to problems in computer science. The predominant aim of the paper is to raise awareness of both the importance of definitions and the difficulties associated with them in order to pave the way for the effective use of terminology management in software projects. 1 Motivation Better skills in the art of writing definitions of terms (words or phrases) can greatly facilitate the achievement of some of the current goals of computer science like the realization of the Semantic Web and the standardization and re-use of components of all kinds, including data models. But, among engineers there is a gene...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: BTW
• Authors: Susan Thomas
• Keywords: BTW 2005, Current Goals, Database, Semantic Web, Terminology Management