International Terminology Summer School 2009, Cologne, 6-10 July 2009
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Networking was the central theme of this year’s TSS, which was jointly organized by TermNet and the Institute for Information Management at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences and sponsored inter alia by Infoterm. Therefore, it took place in the light of intense networking and saw a very successful launch of a few innovations:
During the daily morning session termed “The Terminologists’ Breakfast”, participants and experts sat together in different topic groups in order to discuss pertinent questions, new developments and acute problems they had encountered in their day-to-day work. These sessions were meant as an addition to the programme of lectures in order to give everybody the opportunity for networking, informal debates and peer coaching. The breakfasts were one of the highlights and very well attended. Networking has increasingly become one of the most important aspects of TSS as the demanding participants of today are no longer satisfied with classroom style lectures and other top-down tuition. The need to provide a greater platform for informal networking and to facilitate cooperation beyond the training week has lead to another innovation: the Terminology Blog. Over this channel, for the first time, those, who could not attend TSS, were able to follow the most important discussions, had the opportunity to comment and ask questions and were thus simply kept informed. The Terminology Blog has soon become the preferred medium also for the participants in Cologne who used it to post topics, reports and comments themselves.
Despite the economic crisis, the number of participants had not significantly decreased. 55 registered participants from Europe, the USA, Africa and Asia were an indicator for the worldwide need of trained terminology experts. Those who attended, were highly motivated and skilled, and enhanced the programme through their contributions and input.
In the future, TSS will gain even more in importance. Through active cooperation the programme is being gradually restructured into a preparatory course for becoming a Certified Terminology Manager. This curriculum is currently being developed within the framework of EUCert (European Certificates Campus Project) by the Infoterm Member TermNet together with other partners. Thus, participants in TSS will soon be able to obtain this internationally recognized certification.
In 2010, the International Terminology Summer School will take place in Vienna in the last week of May. This early time slot has been chosen to give participants the opportunity to attend additional workshops as well as the Annual Meeting of the Academic Council of the United Nations System (ACUNS). Synergies like this are always sought by the TSS organizers. This year, a parallel training workshop took place for the EU project TermTurk. About 20 participants from that seminar shared breaks and some of the lectures with the TSS group. Infoterm is associated partner in the TermTurk project.
Related Links:
Terminology Blog
Presentations and snapshots of TSS 2009:
ACUNS Annual Meeting in 2010
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Last update: 2009-10-01
