Phases of work towards standards for the lexicon

The consensual approach to standardisation has implications for the working methodology and for the phasing of the work leading to standards proposals. This work typically falls into the following (generic) conceptual phases:

Synopsis:

Survey of the field, synopsis and comparative (qualitative) assessment of existing practice (leading to a survey and a best practice study);

Inventory and first proposals:

Creation of an inventory of best practice components, on the basis of the outcome of the survey; organisation, structuring and formalization of such inventory, leading to proposals for standards, on different levels of formality;

Validation:

Proof of applicability of the proposals produced, by means of application tests, validation exercises, etc.

These phases have been backed up by dissemination and awareness actions.

This model has been followed, and further developed, in the work of the CLWG. The procedure can be seen as an activity of filtering, condensing and testing: a broad range of existing items is collected, screened and compared, to filter out the generalisable and uncontroversial parts. These are condensed and formalised, to make sure the condensate is communicable, reproducible and well-understood. Before making it available to the relevant expert public at large, the proposal is thoroughly tested and validated in applications.