There is no knowledge without terminology.

FAO has to deal with a large number of subjects in all the FAO languages: Arabic, English, Spanish, French, Russian and Chinese, including some Italian and also Scientific Names for plants and aquatic species.

Therefore a system to manage terms, definitions, language equivalents, etc. is fundamental for standardization and communication in the subjects that FAO deals with, such as agricultural sciences, nutrition, biotechnology, fisheries, forestry, food safety, etc. to name a few.

FAO meeting documentation and major publications are screened for the retrieval of terminology concepts useful for all users. The process of developing terminology includes the following steps:

• identification of texts and corpora
• term extraction methodology
• comparative analysis of concepts
• collaborative terminology - inclusion of all stakeholders: linguists, terminologists, technical experts
• research of equivalents in all FAO languages
• terminography/terminology methodology - building the records
• validation of terminology in all languages
• developing term records in accordance with good practices and ISO standards
• identification of terms by user feedback

Web services have been developed for interested partners. Kindly read the Service guidelines on this page or contact us at the following address: [email protected].