Terminology exchange with TERMDAT - Tailored interfaces for the terminology database of the Swiss Federal Chancellery

Abstract

The terminology database TERMDAT is at the very heart of the Terminology Section of the Swiss Federal Chancellery's Central Language Services. It provides Swiss legal and administrative terminology predominantly for the four national languages German, French, Italian, and Romansh (plus English). However, data exchange with cooperating actors (Federal Departments, cantons, external service providers, etc.) constitutes a particular challenge, since these actors operate with different systems and data models. The present article describes a solution developed within a pilot project aiming at providing means to substantially improve data flow within a highly heterogeneous database landscape.