Terminology Management is a broad concept which comprises the operationalisation of theoretical principles of terminology as methodologies and a range of practical activities for manipulating terminological information for specific purposes such as the preparation, processing, and documenting of a specialist vocabulary.
There are two approaches to terminology management:
- Prescriptive: according to the prescriptive approach, terminology work "constitutes an agreement by users to adopt a term for common and repeated use in given circumstances" (Unesco Guidelines for Terminology Policies, 2005). It aims at language planning, technical and scientific unification, standardization and harmonisation.
- Descriptive: according to the descriptive approach, terminology work "observes and analyses the emergence of terms" (Unesco Guidelines for Terminology Policies, 2005). It aims at documenting terminological diversity for research purposes.
Terminology Management can be done by means of electronic terminology databases (termbases, glossaries), information available in different file formats, automation of tasks (e.g. automatic terminology extraction), and exchange of information (clients, agencies, fellow translators).