How to extract a business glossary from supplied documents
A glossary makes specialized terms easier to understand consistently across a team. Extraction is useful when definitions and usage are scattered through existing documents.
Start with the right material.
- What you provide
- one owned technical or business document.
- The intended result
- Save explicitly defined terms and mark inferred explanations for review.
How the workflow works.
Collect terms with their stated definitions and source context. Keep conflicting definitions visible and distinguish a definition found in the material from one that still needs the team's agreement.
What to check in the result.
Review ambiguous abbreviations and similar terms before adopting the glossary. A familiar industry meaning may differ from the organization's specific use, so unsupported definitions should not be silently added.
Import the CSV with a consistent delimiter and inspect text identifiers, dates and amounts before using spreadsheet totals. Keep the original file available while checking any automatic type conversion.
Learn from the worked example.
The downloadable CSV example uses these columns: Term, Stated definition, Source reference, Definition type. Compare a complete record with the source before sorting, combining or importing your own output.
The supplied example is illustrative. It is not a recorded run on your data.
Download the example ↓Use it with your own material.
- Open the source you want to work with and activate WebAct on that tab.
- Copy the task from the hero, add any required fields or preferences, and review the proposed actions.
- Compare the first result with your source. Ask for a specific correction or refinement where needed.