Translation Memories are often used as terminology management systems. In fact, translation memory tools are often perceived as more productive and worth investing in than terminology management tools. Though, it is important to take into account that the benefits drawn from the use of terminology management tools become transparent in the long-term (cf. Maslanko, 2004).
Here are some of the differences between translation memories and terminology databases:
- Translation Memory contains whole translation units like sentences, headlines, elements of lists or tables, etc.
- Terminology Database contains terminological units like terms consisting of one word, multiple words or phraseological units
- Terminology Databases can be components of TMs: integrated (e.g. Déjà Vu X, CrossTerm, LogiTrans) vs. independent (CATS, MultiTerm 7, TermStar XV, Uniterm)