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Wiki source code of Definitions

Last modified by Emily West on 2022/05/18 14:44
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1 = Definitions: =
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5 The definitions have been taken/adapted from dama: [[https:~~/~~/www.dama-uk.org/Glossary>>url:https://www.dama-uk.org/Glossary]]
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7 This content can also be found in D2.2 appendix 1.
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10 **Access Control**
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12 The ability to manage which users or groups of users have the privilege to create, read, update or delete data that is held in a database.
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14 **Attribute**
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16 Any detail that serves to qualify, identify, classify, quantify or express the state of a relation or an entity. A characteristic or trait of an entity type that describes the entity, for example, the Person entity type has the Date of Birth attribute.
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18 **Column**
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20 The logical structure within a table of a relational database management system (RDBMS) that corresponds to the attribute in the relational model of data.
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22 **Conceptual data model**
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24 A detailed model that captures the overall structure of organisational data while being independent of any database management system or other implementation consideration – it is normally represented using entities, relationships and attributes with additional business rules and constraints that define how the data is to be used.
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26 **Corporate data model**
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28 A conceptual data model whose scope extends beyond one application system.
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30 **Data**
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32 A re-interpretable representation of information in a formalised manner suitable for communication, interpretation or processing.
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34 **Data administration**
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36 A role in data management concerned with mechanisms for the definition, quality control and accessibility of an organisation’s data.
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38 **Data dictionary**
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40 Software in which metadata is stored, manipulated and defined – a data dictionary is normally associated with a tool used to support software engineering.
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42 **data framework**
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44 classification of data assets as either metadata, reference or thematic data
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47 **Data management**
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49 A corporate service which helps with the provision of information services by controlling or co-ordinating the definitions and usage of reliable and relevant data.
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51 **Data mining**
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53 The process of finding significant, previously unknown, and potentially valuable knowledge hidden in data.
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55 **Data model**
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57 (i) An abstract, self-contained logical definition of the data structures and associated operators that make up the abstract machine with which users interact (such as the relational model of data). (ii) A model of the persistent data of some enterprise (such as an entity– relationship model of data required to support a human resources department).
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59 **Data modelling**
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61 The task of developing a data model that represents the persistent data of some enterprise.
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63 **Data owner**
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65 (i) The owner of a data definition is the person in the organisation who has the authority to say that this data should be held and that this definition is the appropriate definition for the data. (ii) The owner of a data value is the person or organisation that has authority to change that value.
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68 **Data profiling**
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70 A set of techniques for searching through data looking for potential errors and anomalies, such as similar data with different spellings, data outside boundaries and missing values.
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72 **Data quality**
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74 The state of completeness, validity, consistency, timeliness and accuracy that makes data appropriate for a specific use.
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76 **Data recovery**
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78 Restoring a database to a state that is known to be correct after a failure.
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80 **Data security**
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82 Protecting the database against unauthorised users.
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84 **Data steward**
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86 The person who maintains a data definition on behalf of the owner of the data definition.
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88 **Data warehouse**
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90 A specialised database containing consolidated historical data drawn from a number of existing databases to support strategic decision making.
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92 **Database**
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94 (i) An organised way of keeping records in a computer system. (ii) A collection of data files under the control of a database management system.
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96 **Database administration**
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98 A role in data management concerned with the management and control of the software used to access physical data.
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100 **Database management system (DBMS)**
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102 A software application that is used to create, maintain and provide controlled access to databases.
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104 **Datatype**
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106 A constraint on a data value that specifies its intrinsic nature, such as numeric, alphanumeric, date
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108 **Discretionary access control (DAC)**
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110 Access control where the users who are granted access rights are allowed to propagate those rights to other users.
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112 **Domain**
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114 A pool of values from which an attribute must take its value – a domain provides a set of business validation rules, format constraints and other properties for one or more attributes that may exist as a list of specific values, as a range of values, as a set of qualifications, or any combination of these.
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116 **Enterprise architecture**
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118 A process of understanding the different elements that make up the enterprise, such as the people, the information, the processes and the communications, and how those elements interrelate.
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120 **Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software**
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122 A software package that provides a single integrated database that is planned to meet an organisation’s entire data needs for the management of its resources.
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124 **Entity**
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126 In a conceptual data model, a named thing of significance about which information needs to be held in support of business operations. A thing with distinct and independent existence for which a concept can be assigned. A single unique object in the real world that is being mastered. Examples of an entity are a single person, single product, or single organization.
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128 **Entity type**
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130 A person, organization, object type, or concept about which information is stored. Describes the type of the information that is being mastered. An entity type typically corresponds to one or several related tables in database.
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132 **First normal form (1NF)**
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134 In relational data analysis, a relation is in first normal form if all the values taken by the attributes of that relation are atomic or scalar values – the attributes are single-valued or, alternatively, there are no repeating groups of attributes.
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136 **Foreign key**
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138 One or more attributes in a relation (or columns in a table) that implement a many-to-one relationship that the relation (or table) has with another relation (or table) or with itself.
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140 **GIS**
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142 Geographic information system (GIS) refers to a dataset which has coordinates attached to it and therefore corresponds to a location.
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144 **Georeferenced**
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146 An object linked to an internal coordinate system which therefore has a defined location in space.
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148 **HTML**
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150 Acronym for HyperText Markup Language – the markup language used to convey the way that a document is presented by a web browser.
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152 **IEC**
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154 Acronym for the International Electrotechnical Commission – collaborates with ISO in the development of international standards for information systems.
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156 **Information**
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158 (i) Something communicated to a person. (ii) Knowledge concerning objects, such as facts, events, things, processes, or ideas, including concepts, that have a particular meaning within a certain context.
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160 **Information management**
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162 The function of managing information as an enterprise resource, including planning, organising and staffing, and leading, directing, and controlling information.
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164 **Information resource management**
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166 The concept that information is a major corporate resource and must be managed using the same basic principles used to manage other assets.
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168 **Information system**
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170 A collection of manual and automated components that manages a specific information resource.
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172 **ISO**
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174 Acronym for the International Organization for Standardization – collaborates with IEC in the development of international standards for information systems.
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176 **Mandatory access control (MAC)**
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178 Access control where access rights cannot be changed by the users.
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180 **Metadata**
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182 Data about data – that is, data describing the structure, content or use of some other data.
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184 **Multi-level security**
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186 The ability of a computer system to process information with different security levels, to permit access by users with different security clearances, and to prevent users from obtaining access to information for which they do not have authorised access.
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188 **Multimedia data**
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190 Data representing documents, audio (sound), still images (pictures) and moving images (video).
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192 **Normal form**
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194 A state of a relation that can be determined by applying simple rules regarding dependencies to that relation.
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196 **Normalisation**
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198 Another name for relational data analysis.
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200 **Object orientation**
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202 A software-development strategy based on the concept that systems should be built from a collection of reusable components called objects that encompass both data and functionality.
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204 **ODMG**
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206 Acronym for the Object Data Management Group, a body that has produced a specification for object-oriented databases.
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208 **OLAP**
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210 Acronym for online analytical processing – a set of techniques that can be applied to data to support strategic decision making.
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212 **OLTP**
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214 Acronym for online transactional processing – data processing that supports operational procedures.
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216 **Ontology**
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218 Definition of a set of representational primitives with which to model a domain of knowledge
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220 **Primary key**
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222 The set of mandatory attributes in a relation (or mandatory columns in a table) that is used to enforce uniqueness of tuples (or rows).
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224 **RDBMS**
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226 Acronym for relational database management system – a database management system whose logical constructs are derived from the relational model of data. Most relational database management systems available are based on the SQL database language and have the table as their principal logical construct.
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228 **reference data**
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230 data that defines the set of permissible values to be used by other data fields
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232 **Relation**
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234 The basic structure in the relational model of data – formally a set of tuples, but informally visualised as a table with rows and columns.
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236 **Relational data analysis**
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238 A technique of transforming complex data structures into simple, stable data structures that obey the rules of relational data design, leading to increased flexibility and reduced data duplication and redundancy – also known as normalisation.
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240 **Relational model of data**
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242 A model of data that has the relation as its main logical construct.
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244 **Relationship**
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246 In a conceptual data model, an association between two entities, or between one entity and itself.
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248 **Record**
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250 The storage representation of a row of data.
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252 **Repository**
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254 Software in which metadata is stored, manipulated and defined – a repository is normally associated with a corporate data management initiative.
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256 **Schema**
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258 A description of the overall logical structure of a database expressed in a data definition language (such as the data definition component of SQL).
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260 **Second normal form (2NF)**
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262 In relational data analysis, a relation is in second normal form if it is in first normal form and every non-key attribute is fully functionally dependent on the primary key – there are no part-key dependencies.
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264 **SQL**
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266 Originally, SQL stood for structured query language. Now, the letters SQL have no meaning attributed to them. SQL is the database language defined in the ISO/IEC 9075 set of international standards, the latest edition of which was published in 2003. The language contains the constructs necessary for data definition, data querying and data manipulation. Most vendors of relational database management systems use a version of SQL that approximates to that specified in the standards.
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268 **Structured data**
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270 Data that has enforced composition to specified datatypes and relationships and is managed by technology that allows for querying and reporting.
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272 **Table**
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274 The logical structure used by a relational database management system (RDBMS) that corresponds to the relation in the relational model of data – the table is the main structure in SQL.
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276 **Third normal form (3NF)**
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278 In relational data analysis, a relation is in third normal form if it is in second normal form and no transitive dependencies exist.
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280 **Tuple**
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282 In the relational model of data, the construct that is equivalent to a row in a table – it contains all the attribute values for each instance represented by the relation.
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284 **Unified Modeling Language (UML)**
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286 A set of diagramming notations for systems analysis and design based on object oriented concepts.
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288 **Unstructured data**
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290 Computerised information which does not have a data structure that is easily readable by a machine, including audio, video and unstructured text such as the body of a word-processed document – effectively this is the same as multimedia data.
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292 **XML**
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294 Acronym for eXtensible Markup Language – the markup language used to convey the definition, structure and meaning of the information contained in a document.
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297 The Wiki platform of the project also compiles the content above, which can be accessed at the following link:
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