ZB MED's terminology services for the life sciences
A terminology is a set of terms that represents the system of concepts of a particular subject area. To define the meaning of each term as precisely as possible, we make use of definitions, synonyms and supplementary information. Terminologies can be organised hierarchically in the form of a thesaurus or formulated as an ontology with formal semantic concepts and relations to represent domain knowledge. Thanks to its clear structure and definitions, a terminology can help us communicate efficiently and effectively within a specific discipline or sphere. It provides the basis for knowledge transfer and is an indispensable tool for linguistic quality assurance in areas such as teaching, research and knowledge management. Terminologies are also used in computer programmes to categorise content by subject matter and compare different sets of digital content. Terminologies can also be used to semantically index data and literature and make them interoperable. Terminological data must be regularly maintained and updated.
The development and usage of terminologies forms a key part of ZB MED’s work as Germany's central information centre for life sciences. ZB MED regularly develops new tools and launches new services in this field:
