Pan-American Authorities (PANA): Term Selection (Ranking)

The selection of the PANA preferred term is determined by the following criteria:

1. The country of origin of the resource(s) where the term is found
2. The frequency of appearance and its standing within the PANA ranking and scoring system.
3. Its relevance to a Spanish-speaking audience (not necessarily a direct translation).
4. Its representation of the original meaning of the English term according to the source definition.

 

Example 1 : Ranking and Point System

Table Key:

• Green: Indicates a term chosen as the preferred term
  • Won in the first round: Appeared in 5 Latin American resources
• Orange: Selected as non-preferred
• Grey: Not selected

Note: Count and ranking are essential only for determining the winner. Thus, continue counting in subsequent rounds only if a winner has not been established. Once a winner is determined, ranking (or rounds) and count become less significant. The focus shifts to compiling all terms to select non-preferred terms, which have no inherent order.

 

 

Results:

English Term	Source	Source ID	Resources	Spanish Preferred Term	Non-Preferred	Non-Preferred	Non-Preferred	Non-Preferred	Non-Preferred	Non-Preferred
Foreign trade regulation	FAST	fst00931923	Armarc, Lemb Digit@l, Librunam, CCAB, UPR	Regulación del comercio exterior	Comercio exterior - Control	Comercio internacional - Regulaciones	Control de exportaciones e importaciones	Control del comercio internacional	Regulación del comercio internacional	Comercio exterior - Regulación

 

Example 2: In the Event of a Tie

1. If a winner cannot be determined after the first three rounds, proceed to count the occurrences in the remaining resources, such as crowdsourcing and encyclopedias, while maintaining the ranking system (Latin American, Spain, and USA).

2. The rounds are structured as follows:

   • Round 1: Latin American authority files
   • Round 2: Spain authority files
   • Round 3: USA authority files
   • Tiebreaker Round 1: Remaining Latin American resources
   • Tiebreaker Round 2: Remaining Spain resources
   • Tiebreaker Round 3: Remaining USA resources
   • Final Tiebreaker Round: Google search results count comparing the terms to break the tie

In this example, the focus is on choosing the most useful term that best encompasses the original meaning of the English term.

In the example provided below, the term "trabajo" (meaning work) can be considered encompassing to the original meaning of "industrial," particularly since FAST defines "industrial" broadly as related to work. Additionally, considering that the Google search results for "Accidentes de trabajo" are higher than "Accidentes industriales," it satisfies the "relevance to a Spanish-speaking audience" criterion.

 

Results:

English Term	Source	Source ID	Resources	Spanish Preferred Term	Non-Preferred	Non-Preferred	Non-Preferred	Non-Preferred	Non-Preferred	Non-Preferred
Industrial accidents	FAST	fst00970769	Armarc, Lemb Digit@l, CCAB, BNE, CSIC	Accidentes de trabajo	Accidentes industriales	Accidentes laborales	Industria accidentes	Trabajadores accidentes	Trabajo accidentes	Accidentes ocupacionales

 

Non-Preferred Terms:

What determines the selection of non-preferred terms? 

• Non-preferred terms refer to those that capture the original meaning of the English term and are relevant to a Spanish-speaking audience, yet were not selected as the preferred term through the PANA ranking and point system. Any remaining terms meeting these criteria can be designated as non-preferred terms, provided they are unique within the PANA taxonomy and not linked to another term.

Local Terms: 

• In scenarios where there is no existing authority file or resource containing a suitable Spanish equivalent, either because none exists or the ones listed during the ranking and point system are deemed inadequate or not fully encompassing in meaning, the PANA group will create a local term. In such cases, it is acceptable for PANA group members to rely on their general knowledge or conduct further research to develop a term that is both useful and encompassing.