Vol. 26 No. 6
November-December 2004

Internationally Agreed Terminology for Observations in Scientific Communication

This two-year project based on the C-NPU generic database deals with properties that are observed in the medical laboratory, but not defined by the seven dimensions of the SI system. (The NPU is the Nomenclature, Properties, and Units in Laboratory Medicine coding). The VIM (International Vocabulary of Basic and General Terms in Metrology), which defines the primitive concepts of the SI system, is designed for metrology: the science of measurement. However, most scientific disciplines, not only laboratory medicine, also rely—some predominantly—on observation. Thus, this project intends to design a vocabulary shared by both observations and measurement. Developing a common framework to integrate the concepts of property, and in a more restricted sense of quantity, the project includes explaining to laboratory medicine workers the meaning of and usefulness of this view.

For more information, contact Task Group Chairman Françoise Pontet <[email protected]>.

www.iupac.org/projects/2004/2004-023-1-700.html