The International vocabulary of metrology (VIM) is an attempt to find a common language and terminology in metrology

Metrology

Metrology is the science of measurement. Metrology includes all theoretical and practical aspects of measurement. The word comes from Greek μέτρον , "measure" + "λόγος" , amongst others meaning "speech, oration, discourse, quote, study, calculation, reason"...

, e.g. the science of measurements, across different fields of science, legislature and commerce. The 3rd edition was developed using the principles of terminology work (ISO 704:2000 Terminology Work—Principles and Methods; ISO 1087-1:2000 Terminology Work—Vocabulary—Part 1:Theory and Application; ISO 10241:1992 International Terminology Standards—Preparation and Layout).

Partner organizations

• International Bureau of Weights and Measures
  International Bureau of Weights and Measures
  The International Bureau of Weights and Measures , is an international standards organisation, one of three such organisations established to maintain the International System of Units under the terms of the Metre Convention...
  
   (BIPM)
• International Electrotechnical Commission
  International Electrotechnical Commission
  The International Electrotechnical Commission is a non-profit, non-governmental international standards organization that prepares and publishes International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies – collectively known as "electrotechnology"...
  
   (IEC)
• International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
  International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
  The International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine or IFCC was founded in 1952 to promote a global vision of Clinical Chemistry & Laboratory Medicine worldwide and to be the leading organization in the field...
  
   (IFCC)
• International Organization for Standardization
  International Organization for Standardization
  The International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on February 23, 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary, industrial and commercial...
  
   (ISO 80000)
• International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry
  International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry
  The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry is an international federation of National Adhering Organizations that represents chemists in individual countries. It is a member of the International Council for Science . The international headquarters of IUPAC is located in Zürich,...
  
   (IUPAC)
• International Union of Pure and Applied Physics
  International Union of Pure and Applied Physics
  The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics is an international non-governmental organization devoted to the advancement of physics...
  
   (IUPAP)
• International Organization of Legal Metrology
  International Organization of Legal Metrology
  The International Organization of Legal Metrology or Organisation Internationale de Métrologie Légale is an intergovernmental treaty organization. The OIML currently has 57 Member States and 58 Corresponding Members...
  
   (OIML)
• International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation
  International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation
  The International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation or ILAC started as a conference in 1977 with the aim of developing international cooperation for facilitating trade by promotion of the acceptance of accredited test and calibration results...
  
   (ILAC)

Joint Committee for Guides in Metrology (JCGM)

Above partner organizations send representatives into the Joint Committee for Guides in Metrology (JCGM).This committee has currently two working groups:

• Working Group 1 (JCGM/WG 1) on the GUM
• Working Group 2 (JCGM/WG 2) on the VIM

GUM (Guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement)

The GUM can be downloaded here: http://www.bipm.org/utils/common/documents/jcgm/JCGM_100_2008.pdf

Newer versions and corrigenda are available here: http://www.bipm.org/en/publications/guides/gum.html

VIM (International vocabulary of metrology)

The VIM is the most global attempt to standardize terminology across different fields of science, legislature, commerce and trade. The vocabulary has the following content:

Foreword

Introduction

Conventions

Scope

1 Quantities and units

2 Measurement

3 Devices for measurement

4 Properties of measuring devices

5 Measurement standards (Etalons)

Annex A (informative) Concept diagrams

Bibliography

List of acronyms

Alphabetical index

It can be downloaded here: http://www.bipm.org/utils/common/documents/jcgm/JCGM_200_2008.pdf

Newer versions and corrigenda are available here: http://www.bipm.org/en/publications/guides/vim.html

Usage

Acceptance of VIM standards is rather good in legislature, commerce and trade where it is often legally required. Acceptance is also good in textbooks and many fields of sciences. There are, however, some fields of science that stick to their traditional jargon, most notably theoretical physics

Theoretical physics

Theoretical physics is a branch of physics which employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena...

 and mass spectrometry

Mass spectrometry

Mass spectrometry is an analytical technique that measures the mass-to-charge ratio of charged particles.It is used for determining masses of particles, for determining the elemental composition of a sample or molecule, and for elucidating the chemical structures of molecules, such as peptides and...

.

See also

• International System of Quantities
• International System of Units
  International System of Units
  The International System of Units is the modern form of the metric system and is generally a system of units of measurement devised around seven base units and the convenience of the number ten. The older metric system included several groups of units...
  
   (SI)
• SI base units
• SI derived units
• Orders of magnitude
• Long and short scales
  Long and short scales
  The long and short scales are two of several different large-number naming systems used throughout the world for integer powers of ten. Many countries, including most in continental Europe, use the long scale whereas most English-speaking countries use the short scale...
  
  
• Dimensional analysis
  Dimensional analysis
  In physics and all science, dimensional analysis is a tool to find or check relations among physical quantities by using their dimensions. The dimension of a physical quantity is the combination of the basic physical dimensions which describe it; for example, speed has the dimension length per...
  
  
• History of measurement
  History of measurement
  Units of measurement were among the earliest tools invented by humans. Primitive societies needed rudimentary measures for numerous tasks such as: constructing dwellings of an appropriate size and shape, fashioning clothing, or bartering food or raw materials....