ESS multilingual glossary in Statistics Explained - progress Marc Debusschere Agenda point 16 Dissemination Working Group 17-18 October 2013

Overview A problem … and a possible solution ESS glossary project The first year: results Next steps 2

The problem … Glossaries = sets of short and easily understandable definitions Very important for users (and not just for statistical terms!) Available in some form on most NSI websites Require considerable resources Major issues from ESS perspective Duplication within NSIs & Eurostat Duplication across ESS Hence: waste of resources Lack of integration and coherence … and too seldom there when you need them! 3

… and a possible solution using Statistics Explained glossary http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Thematic_glossaries Mediawiki-based (like Wikipedia) open-source, no IT development and only basic skills required User-friendly navigation accessible from every context where a term is used Good tools to layer, link, redirect, disambiguate, … Optimal integration of language versions Common working platform to extend and improve Powerful versioning Common repository for re-use in all ESS output Exportable to NSI websites with adapted look & feel 4

ESS glossary project main features Using Statistics Explained infrastructure Participation voluntary 'Open source' principle, results free for all (including non-participants) Mother version English (can also be improved and expanded!) Modular integration of language versions Common working platform for expanding and improving content Common repository for possible re-use in all output (including paper publications and export to other websites) 5

ESS glossary project getting started NSIs volunteering, Oct 2012: CY, EL, EE, FR, IS, PL, SE Some NSIs appointed contacts and entered, but due to resource limitations created no items yet Glossaries started and online, of varying size: Dutch (nl) * Estonian (et - Statistics Estonia) Greek (el - Statistics Cyprus & Statistics Greece) Polish (pl - Statistics Poland) Supporting navigation set up by Eurostat e.g. http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Thematic_glossaries/et and http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Category:Glossary/el * informally mandated by Statistics Belgium 6

First conclusions No problems with platform, practical arrangements, communication between participants Quick and flexible procedure resulting in short lag between creation and availibility online Immediate added value even from limited set: SE articles in Estonian, Greek, Polish etc. link to them Google finds them (should improve with more integration) e.g. 'unia europejska słownik': result 21 of 2,42 million Usage encouraging e.g. page views 'European Union (EU)': Polish 1710 compared to (older) French 1766, German 1923 and English 45 406 One shared frustration: slow progress due to lack of resources … 7

Next steps Keep up the good work … Other volunteers starting up? Gradual expansion of existing glossaries, depending on availability of resources in NSIs Other volunteers starting up? Depending on availibility of resources … New candidates who think there should be items in their language too? Concrete implementation of importing glossary into NSI website via web API (application programming interface): candidates? 8