Terminology work

Terminology work stands for defining concepts of special fields (such as tax law or education policy) and agreeing on recommended term equivalents in various languages. Terminology work aims at improving the quality of communications by ensuring the use of the same term for a concept in all circumstances.

Terminology work carried out within the state administration helps public servants of various administrative sectors to better understand each other’s messages and translators to choose the best terms to their translations.

Results and methods of terminology work are utilised also in the production of various data systems (e.g. patient registers) and development of more sophisticated ontology-based search tools.

An example of the results of terminology work

• the concept in Finnish: virkasuhde
• the definition in Finnish: julkisoikeudellinen palvelussuhde, joka syntyy, kun henkilö nimitetään virkaan tai hoitamaan muuta julkisten tehtävien kokonaisuutta
• the concept in Swedish: tjänsteförhållande
• the definition in Swedish: offentligrättsligt anställningsförhållande som uppstår när en person utnämns till en tjänst eller till att sköta någon annan helhet av offentliga uppdrag
• the concept in English: public-service employment relationship
• the definition in English: an employment relationship governed by public law, created when a person is appointed to a public office or to discharge another set of public duties