What are the best software packages for glossary making?

I don't think we can talk about best software packages, since everyone has different expectations and technological backgrouds. But you may find the most suitable software package according to your needs. In this link (in German) you have a list of the following glossary-making tools for the booth: interplex, LookUp, TermDB and InterpretBank.

I tried them all (save Glossary Pro) a couple of years ago. My favourite then (and now) is TermDB, which much to my regret was discontinued some moths ago (you may still try to contact Christian Vogeler to get a free copy).

A more primitive solution is to use MS Excel or Word to create lists, but these are not easy to manage without a dedicated application. If you use MS Excel or Word to store individual glossaries in different files, I strongly recommend recommend you to use an indexing programme such as Copernic Desktop Search (free version also available) or the more flexible dtSearch (fee required). In this way you will be able to find terms spread across several files, regardless of the file format.

If you don't like any of the tools or you're still missing features, you can develop your own Access application. IMO, Access is still a professional and flexible solution to store and retrieve your terms.

I you also work as a translator and use Computer Assisted Translation tools, you may want to check if they offer a suitable terminology management tool you can use both in the booth and for your translations. I use Déjà Vu X2 and its terminology module is multilingual and MS Access-based, which allows me to easily export/import terms.

I would recommend you to download all tools and try them out to make an educated decision. Many of them offer a demo version, but sometimes all it takes to rule out a tool is read the manual to discover that there is something missing.

There is also an AIIC colleague who is expert in terminology management: Anja Rütten. She also organises on-site and on-line trainings with many (it not all) of the tools mentioned.

Hello,

what about a classic: Excel. I didn't know how to work properly with Excel until recently and I am very happy with it. If you only need a straightforward glossary making tool with simple search and find function you can use Excel files with different workbooks: it will work fine.

Conrado

You may be interested in looking at www.Intragloss.com - Intragloss is a new glossary maker designed by and for interpreters (due diligence: I'm the developer). I've been working on it for three years (together with a professional software developer); I use it myself for my own assignments and it cuts down my preparation time by half. Works only on Mac machines.

Interplex is one of the best solutions available right now, if you ask me, since it runs on Windows, Mac (with a small workaround), iPhone and iPad. GlossaryPro (iPad only) is very nice, too, since it allows you to add images to your terminology and sports a quiz mode which lets you brush up on your vocab before the meeting. Update: GlossaryPro is no longer available in the App Store.

I've being using InterpretBank for the last 2 months. I'm quite happy about it. I used to work with Excel, which is fine, but has no conference modality to look up terms in the booth. I tried Interplex too. It's easy too, maybe too easy. I mean, it reminds me of Excel (even if it is much better than that). In InterpretBank I like the modality to learn my glossaries before the actual conference. I like also the possibility to add extra information. Maybe the automatic translation could be interesting too, but I hadn't the time to really test it. All in all I think it is a good solution. I run the software on my mac with a small workaround. It would be nice if the software was natively for Mac...

Hi,

Until recently, I was a very basic user of glossary making software (see my reply above). I was using classic Word and Excel glossaries and occasionally the Spotlight search function on my Mac, which works pretty much like an indexing software solution on a PC (as far as I know dedicated indexing solutions are lacking for Mac, the same goes for affordable glossary software that works natively on Mac and not via a Windows virtual machine. Virtual Machines are a pain in the neck particularly when used on a laptop). I was lucky enough that a colleague mentioned a glossary making and management software that is mostly designed for Mac: www.interpretershelp.com. It's very userfriendly, straightforward and very responsive. You can manage your glossaries on the webbrowser (cloud storage) and download an App on your Mac computer that synchronizes with the glossaries that you've imported onto your cloud. The app works regardless if there's an internet connection or not. The downside: there is no App for iPad but you can still use your glossaries via the webbrowser on your iPad, provided you are on the Internet. Besides, Windows users are limited to the webbrowser solution as there is no App for Windows.

As I've said, I'm a very basic glossary user. I do not know how this software works with large glossaries.

Conrado

I think interpretershelp.com has a lot of interesting features and it is improving. And its creators are open to suggestions too (I exchanged a few e-mails with one of them).

I’d also like to mention a free tool I developed, Glossary Builder. It is not a terminology manager but rather a conversion tool that turns your Excel / LibreOffice / plain text glossary into an instantly searchable glossary (example here: ILO Conventions – there is a search field on top of the page and the results are filtered as you type).

You can then download that glossary and use it in the booth on your computer or tablet (works offline with all operating systems except iOS – for iPads or iPhones, you’d have to put the glossary on a web hosting solution and it would require Internet access).

The main weakness of my tool is that you cannot add terms to the converted glossary: you have to add them to your spreadsheet glossary first, then convert it again. I intend to fix that one day (and add more features), but not in a very near future.