According to a survey on terminology management and terminology extraction carried out in 2005 among terminologists, translators and interpreters, terminology management is mostly performed by using appropriate terminology management tools (71% of a total of 400 participants). Even so, more simple tools are also used by language professionals to store terminology, such as simple Word and Excel tables (48%).
A little bit more sophisticated is the practice of managing terminology with Excel tables:
In theory, terminology management is also possible using standard relational database systems like Microsoft Access (some terminology management systems in fact use Access databases).
Though these simple forms of terminology management previously seen are still used by some language professionals, it must be made clear that:
- Tools like Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel are not designed specially for terminology management
- They can process texts in machine-readable formats, but data stored in these formats cannot be handled in the translation process as necessary
Finally, one possible explanation for the use of Word and Excel tables for terminology management by translators and interpreters may be that word processors and spreadsheet software have a wider dissemination than TMTs, and that translators and interpreters are more familiar with the use of this standard software (Zielinski and Ramírez, 2005).