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Article published In:
The Role of ISO/TC 37 Standards for Translators, Interpreters, Terminologists and Beyond
Edited by Hendrik J. Kockaert
[Digital Translation 10:2] 2023
► pp. 180–199

The impact of ISO/TC 37 standards on technical communication

ORCID logo | Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
Rather than just profiting from digitalization efforts such as the implementation and improvement of automated content delivery processes, technical communication itself currently has the opportunity of becoming a major driver in digitalization. The essence of technical communicators’ work is to create representations of products under the aspect of product use. In order to convey how a product functions and how it shall be used, they build concepts that reflect its structure and the structure of the domain to which it belongs. These concepts and their interrelations represent the underlying architecture of information that is rendered into ‘technical documentation’ in the course of the information development process which parallels the product development process. To harmonize concepts for information on products to be launched and in its proper domain, as well as to ensure interoperability between digital resources, technical communication relies on a range of standards created within and published by ISO Technical Committee 37, Language and Terminology (ISO/TC 37).
Keywords: technical communication, terminology standardization, knowledge representation, concept model, digitalization, Internet of Things
Article outline
  • 1.Knowledge work in technical communication
    • 1.1What is technical communication concerned with?
    • 1.2What happens in the information development process?
      • 1.2.1Environment analysis (including market monitoring results)
      • 1.2.2Planning and concept development
      • 1.2.3Content creation, media production, publication and distribution
  • 2.Conceptual information in technical communication
    • 2.1From documents to information
    • 2.2From mental models to concept systems
  • 3.Technical communication and its terminology
    • 3.1ISO 24183, Technical communication – Vocabulary
    • 3.2Concept model in ISO 24183
  • 4.Digitalization, concept repositories and terminology
    • 4.1Concept repositories
    • 4.2Characterization of properties
    • 4.3Technical communication and submodel templates
  • 5.ISO TR 24633 series: TBX in new looks
  • 6.SMART: Standards that speak for themselves
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 15 December 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/dt.00007.mah
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