Do you need words in your work? - Are you familiar with the Glossaries tool?

The Glossaries tool compiles predefined concepts and words used in different organisations that other organisations can use. The new version, which was released in the spring, now allows you to download and edit data in Excel. Accessibility and editing of the service have also been developed. 

The Glossary tool aims at describing and identifying concepts so precisely that these concepts are both understandable and machine-readable. It is suitable for people in different organisations who use predefined concepts or whose job description includes defining them. 

The aim is to facilitate the development of services and the flow of information between different systems 

The glossaries are part of the Interoperability Platform, which also contains shared code sets and data models. The interoperability method behind the platform supports the data specifications and metadata needed for the digital services and data flows of different organisations so that the meaning of information remains consistent as it moves from one system to another. 

–  In other words, there is no need to reinvent the wheel if your platform already has completed descriptions made by someone else. One of the objectives is to speed up the development of information systems: when data can be downloaded directly from the interoperability platform in machine-readable format, developers have to do less manual work and there will be fewer typos and other mistakes, says Chief Adviser Riitta Alkula.

Interoperable digital services build a smoother digital society. 

New version is easier to use

The new version, which was published during the spring, includes many features that improve accessibility. 

• In the new version of the tool, you can save the glossary to your workstation in Excel format. Concepts can be added, edited, and uploaded in Excel. Concepts can still be edited also directly in the web browser. 
• The tool's language selection has been expanded to include the entire IETF language code set instead of only Finnish, Swedish and English. 
• The accessibility of the tool has been developed.
• The order of the concepts in the tool has been simplified. 

Interested? 

The Glossaries website is open for everyone to search for and browse glossaries and terminological definitions of concepts and words. 

As the publisher, the organisation can use the Glossaries tool to maintain glossaries, define concepts, define relationships between concepts, and suggest new concepts for the use of public administration.  

At some point this year, a new function allowing users to visualise glossaries and relationships between concepts will be introduced for the tool.

The publisher of the glossaries must request a user permit from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency for the platform's tools and undertake to comply with the terms and conditions of use. Send the application for a user permit to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency [email protected]. (See the interoperability platform's public documentation for instructions.) At this stage, the publisher of the glossary must also appoint an administrator who is responsible for the access rights of their organisation.

Additional information: 

•    Interoperability platform in Suomidigi, in Finnish
•    Welcome to the Glossaries tool! | Terminfo 1/2023, in Finnish