APPENDIX A: Glossary of Selected Terms    (3Y0U)

Notes:    (3Y0V)

Abstract Model    (3Y0Y)
An architectural pattern that optimizes a data architecture for Data Description, Data Context, and Data Sharing; (DRM usage). A theoretical construct that represents physical, biological or social processes, with a set of variables and a set of logical and quantitative relationships between them; (Answers.com). An abstract model is one way to establish a consistent set of concepts. An abstract model is a tool for the description of complex behaviour — it is not a template for an implementation, although it should not stray so far away from reality that it is impossible to recognise how the required behaviours would be implemented. (W3C XML Protocol Abstract Model). (More: Wikipedia).    (3Y0Z)
Ad Hoc Query    (3Y10)
A query (i.e., search question) formed or used for specific or immediate problems or needs.    (3Y11)
Analytical Database    (3Y12)
A database that contains structured data objects that support query and analysis, and that tends to be purposefully de-normalized and optimized for query ease and performance.    (3Y13)
API    (3Y14)
An application programming interface, which is a set of definitions of the ways one piece of computer software communicates with another. It is a method of achieving abstraction, usually (but not necessarily) between higher-level and lower-level software; (Wikipedia). Architectural Pattern    (3Y15)
Analytical Database    (3Y16)
A database that contains structured data objects that support query and analysis, and that tends to be purposefully de-normalized and optimized for query ease and performance. A description of an archetypal solution to a recurrent design problem that reflects well-proven design experience; (American Science Institute of Technology).    (3Y17)
Attribute    (3Y18)
A characteristic of an Entity whose value may be used to help distinguish one instance of an Entity from other instances of the same Entity; (DRM usage). A characteristic or property of an object, such as weight, size, or color. A construct whereby objects or individuals can be distinguished; (WordNet).    (3Y19)
Authoring System Repository    (3Y1A)
A broad term related to document storage. At one extreme, an “authoring system” may be a digital camera. At the other, an authoring system may implement a complex workflow used for the production of a formal publication. In both cases, the products of an authoring system are documents; (DRM usage).    (3Y1B)
BRM    (3Y1C)
See “Business Reference Model”.    (3Y1D)
BRM Business Area    (3Y1E)
The top tier of the BRM. Business Areas separate government operations into high-level categories relating to the purpose of government (Services forCitizens), the mechanisms the government uses to achieve its purpose (Mode of Delivery), the support functions necessary to conduct government operations (Support Delivery of Services),and the resource management functions that support all areas of the government’s business(Management of Government Resources); (FEA Consolidated Reference Model).    (3Y1F)
BRM Line of Business    (3Y1G)
The middle tier of the BRM. LoBs represent the internal operations of the federal government and its services for citizens, independent of the agencies, bureaus and offices that perform them; (FEA Consolidated Reference Model).    (3Y1H)
Broader Term    (3Y1I)
A term to which another term or multiple terms are subordinate in a hierarchy. In thesauri, the relationship indicator for this type of term is BT. (ANSI/NISO Z39.19-200x)    (3Y1J)
Business    (3Y1K)
The people or organizations that are described by the BRM. In the Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration standard businesses are defined by a businessEntity. While quite often these are, in fact, businesses in the usual sense of the word, they need not be. For example, the "businesses" in a registry internal to a business might well be internal organizations; (UDDI).    (3Y1L)
Business Context    (3Y1M)
The formal description of a specific business circumstance as identified by the values of a set of Context Categories, allowing different business circumstances to be uniquely distinguished; (UN/CEFACT Core Components Technical Specification, Version 2.01). For example, in the FEA SRM, Service Types provide an additional layer of categorization that defines the business context of a specific component within a given Service Domain.    (3Y1N)
Business Reference Model (BRM)    (3Y1O)
One of the five FEA reference models. The BRM provides a framework that facilitates a functional (rather than organizational) view of the federal government’s LoBs, including its internal operations and its services for citizens, independent of the agencies, bureaus and offices that perform them; (FEA Consolidated Reference Model).    (3Y1P)
Business Rule    (3Y1Q)
Policies and other restrictions, guidelines, and procedures governing the administration and operation of a service; (Data Dictionary for Preservation Metadata: Final Report of the PREMIS Working Group, May 2005).    (3Y1R)
Categorization    (3Y1S)
The process of associating something with a category within a categorization scheme. (DRM Usage)    (3Y1T)
Categorization Scheme    (3Y1U)
A group of categories that are related in some manner, and that may be used for purposes of categorization. Categorization schemes may be less formal than classification schemes. (DRM Usage)    (3Y1V)
Category    (3Y1W)
A grouping of terms that are semantically or statistically associated, but which do not constitute a strict hierarchy based on genus/species, parent/child, or part/whole relationships. (ANSI/NISO Z39.19-200x)    (3Y1X)
CGI    (3Y1Y)
Common Gateway Interface, a standard, language-neutral web technology that enables a client web browser to request data from a program executed on the Web server. CGI, invented in 1993 by NCSA, specifies a standard for passing data between the client and the program; (More: Wikipedia).    (3Y1Z)
Class    (3Y20)
A description of a set of objects that share the same attributes, operations, methods, relationships, and semantics; (ISO 11179-3). Classes are the "blueprints" for objects. A class wraps attributes (data) and behaviors (methods or functions) into a single distinct entity. Objects are instances of classes; (Practical UML: A Hands-On Introduction for Developers).    (3Y21)
Class Diagram    (3Y22)
A UML diagram that shows a collection of declarative (static) UML model elements such as classes and types, with their contents and relationships: (OMG Terms and Acronyms). A Class diagram gives an overview of a system by showing its classes and the relationships among them. Class diagrams are static -- they display what interacts but not what happens when they do interact; (Practical UML: A Hands-On Introduction for Developers).    (3Y23)
Class Model    (3Y24)
The process of associating something with a category within a classification scheme. (DRM Usage)    (3Y25)
Classification    (3Y26)
The process of associating something with a category within a classification scheme. (DRM Usage)    (3Y27)
Classification Scheme    (3Y28)
A method of organization according to a set of pre-established principles, usually characterized by a notation system and a hierarchical structure of relationships among the nodes. (ANSI/NISO Z39.19-200x)    (3Y29)
Collection    (3Y2A)
An aggregation of information resources used to a support a major business function. In each of these collections data is created, retrieved, updated and deleted; (DRM usage).    (3Y2B)
Common Entities    (3Y2C)
A desired product of data entity harmonization in which the semantics and characteristics of data artifacts (elements) are compared across a Community of Interest (COI) or LoB, or government-wide to reach some level of consensus; (DRM usage). Examples might include Person, Organization, Location, and Terrorist. This concept is sometimes called “entities of interest” is certain communities.    (3Y2D)
Communities of Practice (COPs) or Communities of Interest (COIs)    (3Y2E)
Communities of Interest are collaborative groups of user who require a shared vocabulary to exchange information to in pursuit of common goals, interests, and business objectives. With the context on the DRM they may include LoBs within the government and external organizations that are dedicated to the support of business functions.    (3Y2F)
Concept    (3Y2G)
A unit of thought, formed by mentally combining some or all of the characteristics of a concrete or abstract, real or imaginary object. Concepts exist in the mind as abstract entities independent of terms used to express them. (ANSI/NISO Z39.19-200x)    (3Y2H)
Conceptual Data Model    (3Y2I)
A data model that represents an abstract view of the real world; (ISO 11179-3). A higher-level data artifact that is often used to explore domain concepts with project stakeholders. Logical data models are often derived from conceptual data models. At this level, the data modeler attempts to identify the highest-level relationships among the different entities. (More: Conceptual, Logical, and Physical Data Models).    (3Y2J)
Confidentiality    (3Y2K)
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) defines the term as "ensuring that information is accessible only to those authorized to have access" and is one of the cornerstones of information security. Confidentiality is one of the design goals for many cryptosystems, made possible in practice by the techniques of modern cryptography; (Wikipedia). Security defines the methods of protecting information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction in order to provide confidentiality, integrity, and availability [the so-called “CIA triad”], whether in storage or in transit; (DRM usage). (More: information security at Wikipedia.)    (3Y2L)
Consumer    (3Y2M)
An entity (person or organization) that consumes data that is supplied by a Supplier (DRM usage).    (3Y2N)
Context    (3Y2O)
As related to data, context can describe the perspective, significance, connotation, and/or environment of data assets. Context is the relationship of data assets to other concepts that aid in their discovery, use, and comprehension. See Data Context (DRM Usage). Enables the intended meaning of data to be more clearly known. This is often done through categorization of data. Such categorization also facilitates the discovery of data. (Context also includes business rules which will be covered in a later version of the DRM.)    (3Y2P)
Context Artifact    (3Y2Q)
An example is a Taxonomy.    (3Y2R)
Context Item    (3Y2S)
A set of terms or phrases that are organized in lists, tree structures, or networked relationships.    (3Y2T)
Controlled Vocabulary    (3Y2U)
A list of terms that have been enumerated explicitly. This list is controlled by and is available from a controlled vocabulary registration authority. All terms in a controlled vocabulary must have an unambiguous, non-redundant definition. NOTE: This is a design goal that may not be true in practice; it depends on how strict the controlled vocabulary registration authority is regarding registration of terms into a controlled vocabulary. At a minimum, the following two rules should be enforced: 1. If the same term is commonly used to mean different concepts in different contexts, then its name is explicitly qualified to resolve this ambiguity. 2. If multiple terms are used to mean the same thing, one of the terms is identified as the preferred term in the controlled vocabulary and the other terms are listed as synonyms or aliases. (ANSI/NISO Z39.19-200x)    (3Y2V)
Controlled Vocabulary Registration Authority    (3Y2W)
An entity that controls and makes available the set of terms within a controlled vocabulary.    (3Y2X)
CQL (Common Query Language)    (3Y2Y)
A formal language for representing queries to information retrieval systems such as web indexes, bibliographic catalogs and museum collection information; (CQL home page).    (3Y2Z)
CRUD    (3Y30)
Database operations Create, Read, Update, and Delete.    (3Y31)
Data    (3Y32)
A value, or set of values, representing a specific concept or concepts. Data becomes "information" when analyzed and possibly combined with other data in order to extract meaning, and to provide context. The meaning of data can vary according to its context; (DRM usage). Information in a specific physical representation, usually a sequence of symbols that have meaning; especially a representation of information that can be processed or produced by a computer; (RFC2828, Internet Security Glossary). A re-interpretable representation of information in a formalized manner suitable for communication, interpretation or processing; (ISO 11179-3). A representation of facts, concepts, or instructions in a formalized manner, suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing by humans or by automatic means; (ISO 2382-4 as per ISO 11179-1). (More: Wikipedia).    (3Y33)
Data Access    (3Y34)
Requests for data services, such as a query of a Data Asset; (DRM usage). See "Query" and "Query Point".    (3Y35)
Data Architecture    (3Y36)
Defines how data is stored, managed, and used in a system. It describes how data is persistently stored, how components and processes reference and manipulate this data, how external/legacy systems access the data, interfaces to data managed by external/legacy systems, implementation of common data operations. Data architecture establishes common guidelines for data operations that make it possible to predict, model, gauge, and control the flow of data in the system; (Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute)    (3Y37)
Data Artifact    (3Y38)
A collective term for electronic artifacts related to the presentation, description, representation, or storage of data. Examples are documents and XML Schemas.    (3Y39)
Data Asset    (3Y3A)
A managed container for data; examples include a relational database, Web site, document repository, directory or data service; (DRM usage).    (3Y3B)
Data Context    (3Y3C)
Any information that provides additional meaning to data. Data Context typically specifies a designation or description of the application environment or discipline in which data is applied or from which it originates. It provides perspective, significance, and connotation to data, and is vital to the discovery, use, and comprehension of data. See Context. (DRM usage).    (3Y3D)
Data Context Standardization Area    (3Y3E)
One of the three main parts of the DRM Abstract Model. The Data Context standardization area facilitates discovery of data through an approach to the categorization of data according to taxonomies, and provide linkages to the other FEA reference models; (DRM usage).    (3Y3F)
Data Description Standardization Area    (3Y3G)
One of the three main parts of the DRM Abstract Model. The Data Description standardization area provides a means to richly describe data, thereby supporting its discovery and sharing; (DRM usage).    (3Y3H)
Data Dictionary    (3Y3I)
A database used for data that refers to the use and structure of other data; that is, a database for the storage of metadata [ANSI X3.172-1990]. See also data element dictionary; (ISO 11179-1).    (3Y3J)
Data Discovery    (3Y3K)
The process of discovering data that exists within a data asset; (DRM usage). Locating a resource on the Enterprise, using a process (such as a search engine) to obtain knowledge of information content or services that exploit metadata descriptions of enterprise IT resources stored in Directories, Registries, and Catalogs; (DDMS).    (3Y3L)
Data Element Dictionary    (3Y3M)
An information resource that lists and defines all relevant data elements; (ISO 11179-1).    (3Y3N)
Data Element Definition    (3Y3O)
A textual phrase or sentence associated with a data element within a data dictionary that describes the data element, give the data element a specific meaning and differentiates the data element from other data elements. A good definition is precise, concise, non-circular, and unbamiguous. Definitions should not refer to terms or concepts that might be misinterpreted by others or that have different meanings based on the context of a situation. Definitions should not contain acronyms that are not clearly defined or linked to other precise definitions. Standards such as the ISO/IEC 11179 Metadata Registry specification also give guidelines for creating precise data element definitions; (Wikipedia).    (3Y3P)
Data Element Registry    (3Y3Q)
An information resource kept by a registration authority that describes the meaning and representational form of data elements, including registration identifiers, definitions, names, value domains, metadata and administrative attributes, etc. See also register; (ISO 11179-1).    (3Y3R)
Data Entity    (3Y3S)
An entity that describes data.    (3Y3T)
Data Exchange    (3Y3U)
Fixed, re-occurring transactions between parties, such as the regular exchange of environment testing data among federal, state, local, and tribal entities; (DRM usage).    (3Y3V)
Data Harmonization    (3Y3W)
The process of comparing two or more data entity definitions and identifying commonalities among them that warrant their being combined (harmonized) into a single data entity.    (3Y3X)
Data Integrity    (3Y3Y)
The property that data has not been changed, destroyed, or lost in an unauthorized or accidental manner; (RFC2828, Internet Security Glossary).    (3Y3Z)
Data Management    (3Y40)
Principles, processes, and systems for the sharing and management of data. (CMMI V1.1)    (3Y41)
Data Model    (3Y42)
Representation of the information required to support the operation of any set of business processes and/or the systems used to automate them; (DRM usage). A description of the organization of data in a manner that reflects an information structure; (ISO 11179-1). A graphical and/or lexical representation of data, specifying their properties, structure and inter-relationships; (ISO 11179-3). A model that describes in an abstract way how data is represented in a business organization, an information system or a database management system; (Wikipedia). (More: Data Modeling category of Wikipedia).    (3Y43)
Data Object    (3Y44)
An aggregation of data that represents discrete information about a subject area. (DRM usage). (More: Wikipedia).    (3Y45)
Data Reference Model (DRM)    (3Y46)
One of the five reference models of the Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA). The DRM is a framework whose primary purpose is to enable information sharing and reuse across the federal government via the standard description and discovery of common data and the promotion of uniform data management practices.    (3Y47)
Data Registry    (3Y48)
An information system that manages and maintains metadata about data and data-related items, such as digital data resources and data assets. A data registry is often paired with a repository; (DRM usage).    (3Y49)
Data Repository    (3Y4A)
A repository is a central place where data is stored and maintained. A repository can be a place where multiple databases or files are located for distribution over a network, or a repository can be a location that is directly accessible to the user without having to travel across a network. (More: Data Management category at Wikipedia.)    (3Y4B)
Data Representation    (3Y4C)
Describes how data is described within the property and object layers; (DRM usage).    (3Y4D)
Data Schema    (3Y4E)
A representation of metadata, often in the form of data artifacts such as logical data models or conceptual data models. The Data Schema concept group is comprised of those concepts pertaining to the representation of structured data.; (DRM usage).    (3Y4F)
Data Service    (3Y4G)
An automated process that provides a related and well described set of data related functions to other applications, systems and processes or to the end user. Data services are invoked through query points, which identify the services and its location in a Web environment; platform-neutral service (such as a Web Service) that provides access to data assets; (DRM usage).    (3Y4H)
Data Sharing Standardization Area    (3Y4I)
One of the three main parts of the DRM Abstract Model. Describes the sharing and exchange of data, where sharing may consist of ad-hoc requests (such as a one-time query of a particular data asset), scheduled queries, and/or exchanges characterized by fixed, re-occurring transactions between parties. Data sharing is enabled by capabilities provided by both the Data Context and Data Description standardization areas. Data sharing involves exchanges within and between agencies and COIs to support mission-critical capabilities. These COIs may include international, state, local and tribal governments. Data sharing eliminates duplication and/or replication of data, thereby increasing data quality and integrity; (DRM usage).    (3Y4J)
Data Steward    (3Y4K)
A person or organization delegated the responsibility for managing a specific set of data resources; (ISO 11179-1).    (3Y4L)
Data Stewardship    (3Y4M)
Identifying, defining, specifying, sourcing, and standardizing data assets across all business areas within a specific business subject area consisting of some set of entity types, e.g., person.    (3Y4N)
Data Supplier-to-Consumer Matrix    (3Y4O)
Presents a planning matrix to describe Data Sharing services that should be considered in meeting an agency’s or COI’s information sharing requirements; comprised of four quadrants: transactional databases, analytical databases, authoring systems repositories, and document repositories; (DRM usage).    (3Y4P)
Data Type (or Datatype)    (3Y4Q)
A constraint on the type of data that an instance of an Attribute may hold (e.g. "date", "string", "float" or "integer"); defines the kind of data that can be stored in a variable or data element; (DRM usage). The format used for the collection of letters, digits, and/or symbols, to depict values of a data element, determined by the operations that may be performed on the data element; (ISO 11179-1). (More: Wikipedia).    (3Y4R)
Digital Data Resource    (3Y4S)
A digital container of information, typically known as a file; may be a structured, semi-structured, or unstructured data resource; (DRM usage). The difference between a Document and a Digital Data Resource, is that a Digital Data Resource can contained structured data, unlike a Document. See also "Document".    (3Y4T)
Digital Rights Management    (3Y4U)
An umbrella term referring to any of several technical methods used to control or restrict the use of digital media content on electronic devices with such technologies installed. The media most often restricted by DRM techniques include music, visual artwork, computer and video games, and movies. Because the "rights" — actually technical capabilities — that a content owner grants are not the same as the legal rights of a content consumer, DRM critics argue that the phrase "digital rights management" is a misnomer and the term “digital restrictions management” is a more accurate characterization of the functionality of DRM systems; (Wikipedia).    (3Y4V)
Directory    (3Y4W)
An entity in a file system which contains a group of files and other directories; (Wikipedia). In Microsoft Windows, a directory is called a “folder”.    (3Y4X)
Document    (3Y4Y)
A file containing Unstructured and/or Semi-Structured Data Resources. A discrete and unique electronic aggregation of data produced with the intent of conveying information. All data within a document may be in the same format (e.g., text), or a document may be a composite that consists of sets of data in a variety of formats (e.g., MS Word files containing embedded graphics). The term “discrete” implies that a document requires no linkage to other data to convey its meaning. The term “unique” implies that each instance or version of a document can be distinguished from all others (i.e., it can be assigned a unique identifying number). Documents may be unstructured, meaning that the document follows no rigid, machine interpretable structural convention or it may contain self describing metadata that is machine interpretable. For example, an ASCII document is unstructured. Alternatively, documents may be semi-structured, meaning that they conform to a machine interpretable structural convention or contain embedded self-describing metadata that is machine interpretable. A Microsoft Word document with headings and sub-headings is considered semi-structured, as is a XHTML document; (DRM usage). (More: Wikipedia). See also "Digital Data Resource".    (3Y4Z)
Document Metadata    (3Y50)
Describes an electronic document as well as the data required to file and retrieve it. It includes information fields such as To, From, Date, Subject, Document Type, Format, Location, Record Number, Version Number, File Tag, and Originating Organization. XML is the preferred format for storing document metadata. Examples of document metadata include MS Office document “Properties”, or “meta” tags in HTML/XHTML. MS Office Properties include: Title, Subject, Author, Date Modified, etc. For comparison, the Dublin Core metadata elements are Contributor, Coverage, Creator, Date, Description, Format, Identifier, Language, Publisher, Relation, Right, Source, Subject, Title, and Type; (DRM usage).    (3Y51)
Document Repository    (3Y52)
A data asset whose primary role is the storage and maintenance of documents.    (3Y53)
Document Type Definition (DTD)    (3Y54)
A set of declarations that conform to a particular markup syntax and that describe a class, or "type", of SGML, HTML, or XML documents, in terms of constraints on the structure of those documents. In a DTD, the structure of a class of documents is described via element and attribute-list declarations; (Wikipedia).    (3Y55)
DRM    (3Y56)
See “Data Reference Model”.    (3Y57)
Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI)    (3Y58)
An open forum engaged in the development of interoperable online metadata standards that support a broad range of purposes and business models; (DCMI).    (3Y59)
E-Government Act of 2002    (3Y5A)
HR 2458 is an act of congress “to enhance the management and promotion of electronic Government services and processes by establishing a Federal Chief Information Officer within the Office of Management and Budget, and by establishing a broad framework of measures that require using Internet-based information technology to enhance citizen access to Government information and services, and for other purposes.” It addresses information security; privacy; accessibility, usability, and preservation of government information; share-in-savings initiatives around common LoBs, and much more. (More: Library of Congress, H.R.2458 or CIO Council archives or Complete Text as PDF or selected portions on XML.gov).    (3Y5B)
E-Government Act of 2002, Section 207(d)    (3Y5C)
A section of the E-Government Act of 2002 that pertains to the categorization of information. (More: Complete Text as PDF or selected portions on XML.gov).    (3Y5D)
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)    (3Y5E)
A standard format for exchanging business data. The North American standard for EDI is called ANSI (American National Standards Institute) X12; (TechTarget.com). Computer-to-computer exchange of structured information, by agreed message standards, from one computer application to another by electronic means and with a minimum of human intervention. EDI is still the data format used by the vast majority of electronic commerce transactions in the world; (Wikipedia).    (3Y5F)
Enterprise Architecture (EA)    (3Y5G)
The explicit description and documentation of the current and desired relationships among business and management processes and information technology. An EA describes the "current architecture" and "target architecture" to include the rules and standards and systems life cycle information to optimize and maintain the environment which the agency wishes to create and maintain by managing its IT portfolio. The EA must also provide a strategy that will enable the agency to support its current state and also act as the roadmap for transition to its target environment. These transition processes will include an agency's capital planning and investment control processes, agency EA planning processes, and agency systems life cycle methodologies. The EA will define principles and goals and set direction on such issues as the promotion of interoperability, open systems, public access, compliance with GPEA, end user satisfaction, and IT security. The agency must support the EA with a complete inventory of agency information resources, including personnel, equipment, and funds devoted to information resources management and information technology, at an appropriate level of detail. Agencies must implement the EA consistent with following principles: (i) Develop information systems that facilitate interoperability, application portability, and scalability of electronic applications across networks of heterogeneous hardware, software, and telecommunications platforms; (ii) Meet information technology needs through cost effective intra-agency and interagency sharing, before acquiring new information technology resources; and (iii) Establish a level of security for all information systems that is commensurate to the risk and magnitude of the harm resulting from the loss, misuse, unauthorized access to, or modification of the information stored or flowing through these systems; (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a130/a130trans4.html)    (3Y5H)
Entity    (3Y5I)
An abstraction for a person, place, object, event, or concept described (or characterized) by common Attributes; (DRM usage). Any concrete or abstract thing that exists, did exist, or might exist, including associations among these things; (ISO 11179-3).    (3Y5J)
Entity of Interest    (3Y5K)
An abstraction for a person, place, object, event, or concept described (or characterized) by common Attributes that is central to the information sharing requirements of a COI; (DRM Usage).    (3Y5L)
E-R (Entity-Relationship) Diagram (ERD)    (3Y5M)
A data modeling technique that creates a graphical representation of the entities, and the relationships between entities, within an information system    (3Y5N)
E-R (Entity-Relationship) Model    (3Y5O)
A way of graphically representing the logical relationships of entities (or objects) in order to create a database; (More: WhatIs.com).    (3Y5P)
Exchange Package    (3Y5Q)
A description of a specific recurring data exchange between a Supplier and a Consumer. An Exchange Package contains information (metadata) relating to the exchange (such as Supplier ID, Consumer ID, validity period for data, etc.), as well as a reference to the Payload (message content) for the exchange. An Exchange Package can also be used to define the result format for a query that is accepted and processed by a Query Point in a data sharing scenario; (DRM usage).    (3Y5R)
Extract, Transform, Load (ETL)    (3Y5S)
The process of reading structured data objects from a data source (the extract), changing the format of the data objects to match the structure required by a target database (transform), and updating the target database with the transferred data objects (load).    (3Y5T)
FEA Reference Model    (3Y5U)
A series of interrelated taxonomies that comprise the FEA, and that are designed to facilitate cross-agency analysis and the identification of duplicative investments, gaps, and opportunities for collaboration within and across Federal Agencies. (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/egov/a-2-EAModelsNEW2.html)    (3Y5V)
FEA Security and Privacy Profile (SPP)    (3Y5W)
Provides guidance to agencies to integrate security and privacy requirements across their enterprise architecture, and to ensure security and privacy requirements are addressed in IT programs from their inception.    (3Y5X)
Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA)    (3Y5Y)
A business-based framework for government-wide improvement developed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/egov/a-1-fea.html)    (3Y5Z)
Federated Registries    (3Y60)
Registries may be federated in order to enable their contents to be shared amongst other registries, causing them to appear to a user and to automated processes (such as queries) as a single registry.    (3Y61)
FIPS 199    (3Y62)
Federal Information Processing Standard 199 (2004 February) defines “Standards for Security Categorization of Federal Information and Information Systems”. It addresses one of the requirements specified in FISMA. FIPS 199 provides security categorization standards for information and information systems. Security categorization standards make available a common framework and method for expressing security. This promotes the effective management and oversight of information security programs, including the coordination of information security efforts throughout the civilian, national security, emergency preparedness, homeland security, and law enforcement communities. Such standards also enable consistent reporting to OMB and Congress on the adequacy and effectiveness of information security policies, procedures, and practices; (FIPS By Number page). (More: FIPS home page; FIPS 199 document.)    (3Y63)
FISMA    (3Y64)
Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) of 2002, requires all federal agencies to develop, document, and implement agency-wide information security programs for the information and information systems that support the operations and the assets of the agency, including those provided or managed by another agency, contractor, or other source; (FIPS By Number page). FISMA compliance is a matter of national security, and is therefore scrutinized at the highest level of government. FISMA is also known as TITLE III—INFORMATION SECURITY of H. R. 2458, the EGovernment Act of 2002. (More: FISMA Implementation Project at NIST; FISMA document at NIST; FISMA Compliance at Watchfire.com.)    (3Y65)
Formal Classification    (3Y66)
Classification that involves formal relationships between topics, and includes specific rules or constraints for those relationships.    (3Y67)
Geospatial    (3Y68)
Pertaining to the geographic location and characteristics of natural or constructed features and boundaries on, above, or below the earth's surface; especially referring to data that is geographic and spatial in nature; (Dictionary.com). (More: Open Geospatial Consortium; National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; Geography Markup Language.)    (3Y69)
Harmonization    (3Y6A)
Act of bringing or coming to agreement or harmony (Dictionary.com).    (3Y6B)
Hierarchy    (3Y6C)
Broader (generic) to narrower (specific) or whole-part relationships, which are generally indicated in a controlled vocabulary through codes or indentation. (ANSI/NISO Z39.19-200x)    (3Y6D)
HTML (HyperText Markup Language)    (3Y6E)
A markup language designed for the creation of web pages and other information viewable in a browser. HTML is used to structure information – denoting certain text as headings, paragraphs, lists and so on – and can be used to define the semantics of a document. Originally defined by Tim Berners-Lee and further developed by the IETF with a simplified SGML syntax, HTML is now an international standard (ISO/IEC 15445:2000). Later HTML specifications are maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C); (Wikipedia).    (3Y6F)
HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)    (3Y6G)
The primary method used to convey information on the World Wide Web. HTTP is a request/response protocol between clients and servers; (Wikipedia).    (3Y6H)
HTTP GET    (3Y6I)
The most common method used to request a specified URL. When you click on most web links (other than web forms), you are causing your browser to issue an HTTP GET request for a particular page or resource from a web server.    (3Y6J)
Informal Classification    (3Y6K)
Classification in which there may or may not be specific types of topics, and the topics that are defined may or may not have formally defined relationships. Many Web sites and search utilities offer a basic classification that may be considered informal classification.    (3Y6L)
Information Class    (3Y6M)
In the DOI Recreation.gov example, an information class is equivalent to the Entity concept of the Data Description standardization area.    (3Y6N)
ISO/IEC 11179    (3Y6O)
A standard for representing Metadata for an organization in a Metadata Registry. The specification is formally known as the ISO/IEC 11179 Metadata Registry Standard and consists of six sections: Part 1 - Framework, Part 2 - Conceptual Schema, Part 3 - Registry Metamodel and Basic Attributes, Part 4 - Formulation of Data Definitions, Part 5 - Naming and Identification Principals, and Part 6 - Registration. The specification defines how data elements are classified, specified, defined, named, and registered. Use of ISO-11179 is strongly recommended by state and federal agencies; (Wikipedia includes links to the six specifications).    (3Y6P)
LDAP    (3Y6Q)
In computer networking, the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol is a standardized networking protocol designed for querying and modifying directory services. LDAP defines a relatively simple protocol for updating and searching directories running over TCP/IP. No specific type of directory is an "LDAP directory". One could reasonably use the term to describe any directory accessible using LDAP and which can identify objects in the directory with X.500 identifiers. LDAP directory entries feature a hierarchical structure that reflects political, geographic, and/or organizational boundaries, usually with DNS names at the top level; (Wikipedia).    (3Y6R)
Lines of Businesses (LoBs)    (3Y6S)
Major government business areas identified in the Business Reference Model (BRM). Each LoBs is comprised of a collection of Sub-Functions. Approximately 39 LoBs are identified in the BRM. About half are external; they are found in the Services for Citizens layer and describe the purpose of government in functional terms. The remaining half are internal LoBs that describe the support functions the government should conduct in order to effectively deliver services for citizens; (FEA BRM 2.0, June 2003).    (3Y6T)
List    (3Y6U)
A limited set of terms arranged as a simple alphabetical list or in some other logically evident way; the simplest type of controlled vocabularies.    (3Y6V)
Logical Data Model    (3Y6W)
A model describes the same data as a conceptual data model, but as structured in an information system. It is often referred to as a Model of the Information System. A logical data model can be directly used for database design; (ISO 11179-3). A graphical representation of the information requirements of a business area, it is not a database; (More: Why Build a Logical Data Model by Embarcadero). At this level, the data modeler attempts to describe the data in as much detail as possible, without regard to how they will be physically implemented in the database; (Conceptual, Logical, and Physical Data Models).    (3YB6)
Management Context    (3Y6Y)
A data artifact that represents the concepts (entities) that are specific to a domain, their attributes, and the relationships between the concepts. Logical data models may also contain data types for attributes.    (3Y6Z)
Metadata    (3Y70)
To facilitate common understanding, a number of characteristics, or attributes, of data are defined. These characteristics of data are known as “metadata”, that is, “data that describes data”. (ISO 11179-3). Information about data. For any particular datum, the metadata may describe how the datum is represented, ranges of acceptable values, its relationship to other data, and how it should be labeled. Metadata also may provide other relevant information, such as the responsible steward, associated laws and regulations, and access management policy. Each of the types of data described above has a corresponding set of metadata. Two of the many metadata standards are the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) and Department of Defense Discovery Metadata Standard (DDMS). The metadata for structured data objects describes the structure, data elements, interrelationships, and other characteristics of information, including its creation, disposition, access and handling controls, formats, content, and context, as well as related audit trails. Metadata includes data element names (such as Organization Name, Address, etc.), their definition, and their format (numeric, date, text, etc.). In contrast, data is the actual data values such as the “US Patent and Trade Office” or the “Social Security Administration” for the metadata called “Organization Name”. Metadata may include metrics about an organization’s data including its data quality (accuracy, completeness, etc.); (DRM usage).    (3Y71)
Metadata Registry    (3Y72)
An information system for registering metadata (ISO/IEC 11179). A metadata registry provides a shared understanding about the metadata that describes a data object (DRM usage).    (3Y73)
Metamodel    (3Y74)
A structure used to create models. For example, an XML Schema defines how to create XML vocabularies and structure XML data. In relational terms, data definition language (DDL) is used to generate (one or more) database schema (made up of related database tables) from which data can be entered. A data model that specifies one or more other data models; (ISO 11179-3).    (3Y75)
Narrower Term    (3Y76)
A term that is subordinate to another term or to multiple terms in a hierarchy. In thesauri, the relationship indicator for this type of term is NT. (ANSI/NISO Z39.19-200x)    (3Y77)
Node    (3Y78)
A specific concept or term in a taxonomy, thesaurus, classification scheme or categorization scheme. (DRM Usage)    (3Y79)
Node Relationship    (3Y7A)
A semantic relationship (e.g. narrower-term) between nodes. (DRM Usage)    (3Y7B)
Object    (3Y7C)
Anything perceivable or conceivable. NOTE Objects may also be material (e.g. an engine, a sheet of paper, a diamond), immaterial (e.g. a conversion ratio, a project plan) or imagined (e.g. a unicorn); (ISO 11179-3).    (3Y7D)
OLAP    (3Y7E)
On-Line Analytical Processing, an approach to quickly provide the answer to complex analytical queries, providing the ability to analyze metrics in different dimensions such as time, geography, gender, product, etc. The OLAP Report has proposed the FASMI test, Fast Analysis of Shared Multidimensional Information. (More: Wikipedia).    (3Y7F)
OLTP    (3Y7G)
On-Line Transaction Processing, a form of transaction processing conducted via computer network. Some applications of OLTP include electronic banking, order processing, employee time clock systems, e-commerce, and eTrading. In large applications, efficient OLTP may depend on sophisticated transaction management software and/or database optimization tactics to facilitate the processing of large numbers of concurrent updates. OLTP is often integrated into service-oriented architecture and Web services; (Wikipedia).    (3Y7H)
OMB    (3Y7I)
The United States Office of Management and Budget is a body within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP) which is tasked with coordinating United States Federal agencies. A "stop-and-think shop," it is a senior management team of the White House. The OMB performs this coordination by gathering and filtering budget requests, by issuing circulars dictating agency management practices, and by reviewing agency regulations.; (More: Wikipedia; Whitehouse.gov.)    (3Y7J)
OMB 300    (3Y7K)
Also known as “Exhibit 300” and “E-300”. The Exhibit 300 business case is a high level summary of the investment’s current justification and management plans including a project plan, benefit-cost analysis, alternatives analysis, acquisition plan, risk management plan, human resources management plan, enterprise architecture and IT Security plan. In the case of proposed new IT investments, this information is used by the operating unit, the Department’s Capital Investment Technology Review Board (CITRB), and OMB to determine if the investment should be recommended for funding. For on-going investments, the Exhibit 300 is used to review the investment’s current status and, subsequently, to assess how well the investment accomplished its goals; (Department of Commerce). (More: FEA in the Budget; Current year E-3000; and Exhibit 300 XML Schema, Version 2.97 [for FY07].)    (3Y7L)
OMG    (3Y7M)
The Object Management is a consortium that sets standards in object-oriented programming as well as system modeling. The OMG created the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) standard in 1991 and more recently, the standard for Unified Modeling Language (UML) and related technologies Meta-Object Facility (MOF) and XML Metadata Interchange (XMI). It has further expanded into Model Driven Architecture (MDA); (Wikipedia). (More: OMG web site and OMG Terms and Acronyms.)    (3Y7N)
Ontology    (3Y7O)
A controlled vocabulary expressed in a representation language that has a grammar for using vocabulary terms to express something meaningful within a specified domain of interest. The grammar contains formal constraints (e.g., specifies what it means to be a well-formed statement, assertion, query, etc.) on how terms in the ontology’s controlled vocabulary can be used together. (ANSI/NISO Z39.19-200x)    (3Y7P)
OWL (Web Ontology Language)    (3Y7Q)
A markup language for publishing and sharing data using ontologies on the Internet and is a vocabulary extension of RDF. Together with RDF and other components, these tools make up the Semantic Web project.; (Wikipedia). (More: W3C).    (3Y7R)
Payload    (3Y7S)
The set of data objects a data service exchanges during a transaction; the message content; (DRM usage).    (3Y7T)
Payload Definition    (3Y7U)
An electronic definition that defines the requirements for the Payload (data) that is exchanged between a Supplier and a Consumer. Examples include XML Schema and EDI transactions.    (3Y7V)
Performance Reference Model (PRM)    (3Y7W)
One of the five FEA reference models. The PRM is a framework for performance measurement providing common output measurements throughout the federal government.    (3Y7X)
Physical Data Model    (3Y7Y)
A representation of a data design which takes into account the facilities and constraints of a given database management system. It is typically derived from the Logical Data Model and may include all the database artifacts required to create relationships between tables or achieve performance goals, such as indexes, constraint definitions, linking tables, partitioned tables or clusters; (Wikipedia). At this level, the data modeler specifies how the logical data model will be realized in the database schema; (Conceptual, Logical, and Physical Data Models).    (3Y7Z)
Polyhierarchy    (3Y80)
Networked relationships, where each item may be related to one or more other items without the direct notion of a parent-child pair.    (3Y81)
Preferred Term    (3Y82)
One of two or more synonyms or lexical variants selected as a term for inclusion in a controlled vocabulary. (ANSI/NISO Z39.19-200x)    (3Y83)
Privacy    (3Y84)
Addresses the acceptable collection, creation, use, disclosure, transmitting, and storage of information, its accuracy, and the minimum necessary use of information. Section 208 of Title II of the E-Government Act of 2002 addresses privacy. See “FISMA”, “FIPS 199”, and “E-Government Act”.    (3Y85)
Query    (3Y86)
An instruction given to access a Data Asset; a request issued to receive data. A Query may be ad hoc when it is issued as an isolated access to a Data Asset (e.g., a one-time database query), or a Query may be part of a pre-planned, methodical operation, in which case it is recurring and often scheduled; (DRM usage).    (3Y87)
Query Point    (3Y88)
An endpoint that provides an interface for accessing and querying a Data Asset. A concrete representation of a Query Point may be a specific URL at which a query Web Service may be invoked; (DRM usage). See "Exchange Package".    (3Y89)
RecML    (3Y8A)
Recreation Markup Language is an XML vocabulary that defines terms for recreation areas (parks), facilities (trails, campgrounds, etc.), activities (hiking, wildlife viewing, etc.), alerts (temporary closures), events, and similar recreation elements. RecML is a voluntary data sharing specification for recreation information developed by a COI, namely the recreation community, including the private sector and government organizations at the Federal, tribal, state, and local levels; (Recreation.gov site).    (3Y8B)
Recreation One-Stop    (3Y8C)
A citizen-focused E-Government Initiative managed by the Department of the Interior with two main goals: (1) customer-friendly recreation portal (Recreation.gov) with information for planning visits to Federal recreation sites and making campground/tour reservations; and (2) consistent information about Federal recreation areas via different channels (databases, websites, and publications), by standardizing data and interfacing recreation-related computer systems; (Whitehouse.gov egov pages).    (3Y8D)
Reference Models    (3Y8E)
A structure which allows the modules and interfaces of a system to be described in a consistent manner; An abstract framework for understanding significant relationships among the entities of some environment, and for the development of consistent standards or specifications supporting that environment. A reference model is based on a small number of unifying concepts and may be used as a basis for education and explaining standards to a non-specialist. A reference model is not directly tied to any standards, technologies or other concrete implementation details, but it does seek to provide a common semantics that can be used unambiguously across and between different implementations. (The Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework is defined in terms of reference models).    (3Y8F)
Register    (3Y8G)
A set of files (paper, electronic, or a combination) containing the assigned data elements and the associated information. See also Data Element Registry; (ISO 11179-1).    (3Y8H)
Registration    (3Y8I)
The assignment of an unambiguous identifier to a data element in a way that makes the metadata about those data elements available to interested parties; (ISO 11179-1).    (3Y8J)
Related Term    (3Y8K)
A term that is associatively but not hierarchically linked to another term in a controlled vocabulary. In thesauri, the relationship indicator for this type of term is RT. (ANSI/NISO Z39.19-200x)    (3Y8L)
Relationship    (3Y8M)
Association between two entities in an ERD. Each end of the relationship shows the degree of how the entities are related and the optionality; (Oracle FAQ). (More: Relation Model at Wikipedia).    (3Y8N)
RDF (Resource Description Framework)    (3Y8O)
A family of specifications for a metadata model. The RDF family of specifications is maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The RDF metadata model is based upon the idea of making statements about resources in the form of a subject-predicate-object expression…and is a major component in what is proposed by the W3C’s Semantic Web activitiy: an evolutionary stage of the World Wide Web in which automated software can store, exchange, and utilize metadata about the vast resources of the Web, in turn enabling users to deal with those resources with greater efficiency and certainty. RDF’s simple data model and ability to model disparate, abstract concepts has also led to its increasing use in knowledge management applications unrelated to Semantic Web activity; (Wikipedia).    (3Y8P)
Result Set    (3Y8Q)
A Query Point provides the result set for an Exchange Package; (DRM usage). In SQL, a result set is a set of rows from a database, as well as meta-information about the query such as number of results returned and the column names. More generally, it is the data returned by any type of query (search).    (3Y8R)
RIDB    (3Y8S)
Recreation Information Database, Department of the Interior. RIDB is a warehouse of information about Federal recreation sites, with the ability to export that data to state tourism portals, recreation-related businesses in the private sector, etc. See Recreation.gov.    (3Y8T)
Schema    (3Y8U)
The structure of a data set, database, Exchange Package, etc. See also "XML Schema".    (3Y8V)
Security    (3Y8W)
Security defines the methods of protecting information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction in order to provide integrity, confidentiality and availability, whether in storage or in transit; (DRM usage). A condition that results from the establishment and maintenance of protective measures that ensure a state of inviolability from hostile acts or influences. With respect to classified matter, the condition that prevents unauthorized persons from having access to official information that is safeguarded in the interests of national security. Measures taken by a military unit, an activity or installation to protect itself against all acts designed to, or which may, impair its effectiveness; (More: Wikipedia).    (3Y8X)
Semantic Linking    (3Y8Y)
A method of linking terms according to their meaning or meanings. (ANSI/NISO Z39.19-200x)    (3Y8Z)
Semantic Web    (3Y90)
A representation in two (or possibly three) dimensions of the semantic relationships between and among terms and the concepts they represent; (ANSI/NISO Z39.19-200x). The Semantic Web provides a common framework that allows data to be shared and reused across application, enterprise, and community boundaries. It is a collaborative effort led by W3C with participation from a large number of researchers and industrial partners. It is based on the Resource Description Framework (RDF), which integrates a variety of applications using XML for syntax and URIs for naming; (W3 Semantic Web home page). Refers to a suite of technologies that aim to enhance the performance of the Internet for the functions of businesses, organizations and individuals by increasing capabilities to interpret and determine meaning in web-based data and information.    (3Y91)
Semi-Structured Data (Resource)    (3Y92)
Data that has characteristics of both structured and unstructured data, such as an e-mail (with structured data such as sender and subject, and unstructured text); (DRM usage). Semi-structured data is the term database theorists use to denote data that exhibits any of the following characteristics: numerous repeating fields and structures in a naive hierarchical representation of the data, which lead to large numbers of tables in a second- or third-normal form representation; wide variation in structure; and/or sparse tables; (C. M. Sperberg-McQueen) (More: series of ACM Queue articles.)    (3Y93)
Service Component Reference Model (SRM)    (3Y94)
A business and performance-driven, functional framework that classifies Service Components with respect to how they support business and/or performance objectives. The SRM is intended for use to support the discovery of government-wide business and application Service Components in IT investments and assets. The SRM is structured across horizontal and vertical service domains that, independent of the business functions, can provide a leverage-able foundation to support the reuse of applications, application capabilities, components, and business services. Service domains include: Customer Services, Process Automation Services, Business Management Services, Digital Asset Services, Business Analytical Services, Back Office Services, and Support Services; (FEA PMO site).    (3Y95)
Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)    (3Y96)
Expresses a software architectural concept that defines the use of services to support the requirements of software users. In a SOA environment, nodes on a network make resources available to other participants in the network as independent services that the participants access in a standardized way. Most definitions of SOA identify the use of Web services (using SOAP and WSDL) in its implementation. However, one can implement SOA using any service-based technology with loose coupling among interacting software agents. (More: Wikipedia).    (3Y97)
SQL-92    (3Y98)
SQL is a database sublanguage that is used for accessing relational databases. The proper pronunciation is "ess cue ell," and not "sequel" as is commonly heard. SQL-92 was designed to be a standard for relational database management systems (RDBMSs) developed by the ANSI X3H2 committee. SQL-92 does not address objects in any way. Nevertheless, SQL-92 forms the basis for JDBC and other specifications. Depending on your source, "SQL" stands for SQL Query Language (recursive expansion), Structured Query Language, or nothing at all. (More: Wikipedia).    (3Y99)
SRM    (3Y9A)
See “Service Component Reference Model”.    (3Y9B)
Standardization Area    (3Y9C)
The three aspects of data that the DRM addresses, namely Data Description, Data Context, and Data Sharing. The DRM’s standardization areas provide a foundation for agency data architecture initiatives to put forth requirements that can result in increased compatibility between agency data architectures; (DRM usage).    (3Y9D)
Structured Data Object    (3Y9E)
An entity within a data store. These entities, in turn, contain attributes that describe the object. Such objects rely on the structure and relationships defined in the data store to assign their meaning. Databases are examples of collections of structured data objects; (DRM usage). (More: Wikipedia.)    (3Y9F)
Structured Data (Resource)    (3Y9G)
Data described via the E-R (Entity-Relationship) or class model, such as logical data models and XML documents. Structured data is organized in well-defined semantic “chunks” called entities; (DRM usage).    (3Y9H)
Subject Area    (3Y9I)
A topic of interest shared within a community. The full list of subject areas of interest to a community form the context for that community. A super type is a subject area that spans multiple COIs; (DRM usage).    (3Y9J)
Supplier    (3Y9K)
An entity (person or organization) that supplies data to a Consumer. Note that the Supplier may or may not be the original producer of the data. For this reason, the name “Producer” was not used; (DRM usage).    (3Y9L)
Synonym    (3Y9M)
A word or term having exactly or very nearly the same meaning as another word or term. (ANSI/NISO Z39.19-200x)    (3Y9N)
Synonym Ring    (3Y9O)
A group of terms that are considered equivalent for the purposes of retrieval. (ANSI/NISO Z39.19-200x)    (3Y9P)
Target Architecture    (3Y9Q)
The set of products that portrays the future or end-state enterprise, generally captured in the organization’s strategic thinking and plans; commonly referred to as the "To-Be" architecture.    (3Y9R)
Taxonomy    (3Y9S)
A collection of controlled vocabulary terms organized into a hierarchical structure. Each term in a taxonomy is in one or more parent/child (broader/narrower) relationships to other terms in the taxonomy. There can be different types of parent/child relationships in a taxonomy (e.g., whole/part, genus/species, type/instance), but good practice limits all parent-child relationships to a single parent to be of the same type. Some taxonomies allow poly-hierarchy, which means that a term can have multiple parents, and although the term appears in multiple places, it is the same term. If the parent term has children in one place in a taxonomy, then it has the same children in every other place where it appears. (ANSI/NISO Z39.19-200x)    (3Y9T)
Technical Reference Model (TRM)    (3Y9U)
A component-driven, technical framework used to categorize the standards, specifications, and technologies that support and enable the delivery of service components and capabilities. The TRM provides a foundation to categorize the standards, specifications, and technologies to support the construction, delivery, and exchange of business and application components (Service Components) that may be used and leveraged in a Component-Based or Service-Oriented Architecture. The TRM unifies existing Agency TRMs and E-Gov guidance by providing a foundation to advance the re-use of technology and component services from a government-wide perspective. Service areas include: Service Access and Delivery, Service Platform and Infrastructure, Component Framework, and Service Interface and Integration; (FEA PMO site).    (3Y9V)
Term    (3Y9W)
One or more words designating a concept. (ANSI/NISO Z39.19-200x)    (3Y9X)
Term Record    (3Y9Y)
A collection of information associated with a term in a controlled vocabulary, including the history of the term, its relationships to other terms, and, optionally, authorities for the term. (ANSI/NISO Z39.19-200x)    (3Y9Z)
Thesaurus    (3YA0)
A networked collection of controlled vocabulary terms. A thesaurus uses equivalence (synonym), hierarchical (broader/narrower), and associative relationships. The expressiveness of the associative relationships in a thesaurus varies and can be as simple as “related to term,” as in term A is related to term B. (ANSI/NISO Z39.19-200x)    (3YA1)
Topic    (3YA2)
A category within a Taxonomy. A Topic is the central concept for applying context to data. For example, an agency may have a Taxonomy that represents their organizational structure. In such a Taxonomy, each role in the organizational structure (e.g. CIO) represents a Topic. Topic is often synonymous with Node; (DRM usage).    (3YA3)
Top Term    (3YA4)
The broadest term in a controlled vocabulary hierarchy. (ANSI/NISO Z39.19-200x)    (3YA5)
Transaction    (3YA6)
An exchange of information between two or more services (or an entity and a service) in the performance of an operation or function; (DRM usage).    (3YA7)

Transactional Database: A database that support transactions. A database transaction is a unit of interaction with a database management system or similar system that is treated in a coherent and reliable way independent of other transactions that must be either entirely completed or aborted; (More: Wikipedia).    (3YA8)

Tree Structure    (3YA9)
A controlled vocabulary display format in which the complete hierarchy of terms is shown. Each term is assigned a tree number or line number which leads from the alphabetical display to the hierarchical one; the latter is also known as systematic display or classified display. (ANSI/NISO Z39.19-200x)    (3YAA)
TRM    (3YAB)
See “Technical Reference Model”.    (3YAC)
UML    (3YAD)
Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a non-proprietary, object modeling and specification language. As a graphical notation, UML can be used for modeling hardware (engineering systems) and is commonly used for business process modeling, systems engineering modeling, software engineering, and representing organizational structure. UML was designed to be used to specify, visualize, construct, and document the artifacts of an object-oriented software-intensive system under development. It represents an integrated compilation of best engineering practices that have proven to be successful in modeling large, complex systems, especially at the architectural level; (More: Wikipedia and OMG’s UML Resource Page). See also OMG.    (3YAE)
Unstructured Data (Resource)    (3YAF)
Data that is of a more free-form format, such as multimedia files, images, sound files, or unstructured text. Unstructured data does not necessarily follow any format or hierarchal sequence, nor does it follow any relational rules; (DRM usage). Unstructured data refers to masses of (usually) computerized information which do not have a data structure which is easily readable by a machine. Examples of unstructured data may include audio, video and unstructured text such as the body of an email or word processor document. Data mining techniques are used to find patterns in, or otherwise interpret, this information. (More: Wikipedia.) Merrill Lynch estimates that more than 85 percent of all business information exists as unstructured data – commonly appearing in e-mails, memos, notes from call centers and support operations, news, user groups, chats, reports, letters, surveys, white papers, marketing material, research, presentations and Web pages; (“The Problem with Unstructured Data”.)    (3YAG)
Vocabulary Control    (3YAH)
The process of organizing a list of terms (a) to indicate which of two or more synonymous terms is authorized for use; (b) to distinguish between homographs; and (c) to indicate hierarchical and associative relationships among terms in the context of a controlled vocabulary or subject heading list. (ANSI/NISO Z39.19-200x)    (3YAI)
Web Services    (3YAJ)
A software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network. It has an interface that is described in a machine-processable format such as WSDL. Other systems interact with the Web service in a manner prescribed by its interface using messages, which may be enclosed in a SOAP envelope, or follow a REST approach. These messages are typically conveyed using HTTP, and are normally comprised of XML in conjunction with other Web-related standards; (Wikipedia). (More: W3C Web Services Activity).    (3YAK)
X.500    (3YAL)
A series of computer networking standards covering electronic directory services. The X.500 series was developed in order to support the requirements of X.400 electronic mail exchange and name lookup. ISO was a partner in developing the standards, incorporating them into the Open Systems Interconnect suite of protocols, ISO/IEC 9594. X.509, the portion of the standard providing for an authentication framework, is now also widely used outside of the X.500 directory protocols for public-key certificates. Because of the complexity of the protocols, a simplified alternative, known as LDAP, was developed implementing only a subset of the protocols; (Wikipedia).    (3YAM)
XML    (3YAN)
Extensible Markup Language has at least two distinct meanings: 1. A set of generic syntax rules to enable the creation of specialized markup languages that follow similar conventions. 2. An ever-growing collection of standard, de facto standard, and special purpose languages based on XML syntax (e.g., XSLT, UBL, ebXML, XML Schema, XHTML, RDF, OWL, SVG, etc.). Sometimes the term "XML" is used incorrectly when really "XML Schema" is intended. (More: W3C XML home page and Wikipedia).    (3YAO)
XML Document    (3YAP)
A storage unit (i.e., a file) containing XML markup and content; (DRM usage). A data object is an XML document if it is well-formed, as defined in this specification. A well-formed XML document MAY in addition be valid if it meets certain further constraints; (XML 1.0 Recommendation, Third Edition).    (3YAQ)
XML Registries and Repositories    (3YAR)
An XML registry is an information system that securely stores XML artifacts (e.g., XML schemas, data elements, etc.) and non-XML artifacts (e.g. other e-business objects), as well as details (metadata) about the artifacts. The storage facility (e.g., a file system or database) that holds registered objects is known as a repository, while the part of the information system that maintains the metadata for the registered objects is known as a registry; (ebXML document). (More: XML.Gov XML Registries page; DoD Metadata Registry; and OASIS ebXML Registry Technical Committee).    (3YAS)
XML Schema    (3YAT)
Defines the vocabulary (elements and attributes), the content model (structure, element nesting, and text content), and data types (value constraints) of a class of XML documents. When written with a capital 'S', the term refers specifically to the XML Schema Definition (XSD or WXS) language developed by the W3C. However, when written with a lowercase 's', the meaning is more generic, referring to any of several schema languages for use with XML, such as DTDs, RELAX NG, Schematron, etc. In both cases, an XML schema is used to validate XML instances, to verify that the instances conform to the model that the schema describes.    (3YAU)
XPath    (3YAV)
XML Path Language (XPath) is a terse non-XML syntax for addressing portions of an XML document. A path expression is written as a sequence of steps to get from one set of nodes to another set of nodes. XPath also allows more conventional expressions, involving arithmetic and boolean operators and a range of functions to perform string manipulation, etc.; (More: Wikipedia).    (3YAW)
XQuery    (3YAX)
XML Query (XQuery) is a query language with some programming language features designed to query collections of XML data. It is semantically similar to SQL and is being developed by the XML Query working group of the W3C. The work is closely coordinated with the development of XSLT 2.0 by the XSL Working Group; the two groups share responsibility for XPath 2.0, which is a subset of XQuery 1.0. At the time of this writing, XQuery is a W3C Candidate Recommendation, although dozens of implementations are available in various states of completeness. In addition to XPath addressing, it provides SQL-like FLWOR expressions based on five possible clauses: FOR, LET, WHERE, ORDER BY, RETURN. Note: XQuery 1.0 does not include features for updating XML documents or databases. It also lacks full text search capability. These features are both under active development for a subsequent version of the language. (More: Wikipedia and W3C XML Query page).    (3YAY)
XSLT    (3YAZ)
XSL Transformations (XSLT) is an XML-based, declarative language used for the transformation of XML documents. The original document is not changed; rather, a new XML document is created based on the content of the original document. The new document may be serialized (output) by the processor in standard XML syntax or in another format, such as HTML or plain text. XSLT is most often used to convert data between different XML Schemas or to convert XML data into web pages or PDF documents. It can also be used to extract portions of an XML document; (More: Wikipedia and W3C XSL page). Note: “XSL” stands for Extensible Stylesheet Language, which includes XSLT, XSL-FO (XSL Formatting Objects), and XPath.    (3YB0)
XSLT Stylesheets    (3YB1)
A transformation expressed in XSLT is called a stylesheet. A stylesheet contains a set of template rules. A template rule has two parts: a pattern which is matched against nodes in the source tree and a template which can be instantiated to form part of the result tree. This allows a stylesheet to be applicable to a wide class of documents that have similar source tree structures.; (More: W3C XSLT 1.0 Recommendation).    (3YB2)
Z39.50    (3YB3)
National Information Standards Organization (NISO) Z39.50 Information Retrieval Protocol (Z39.50/ISO 23950), a computer protocol that can be implemented on any platform, defines a standard way for two computers to communicate for the purpose of information retrieval. A Z39.50 implementation enables one interface to access multiple systems providing the end-user with nearly transparent access to other systems; (NISO Z39.50 Resource Page) Despite a common misconception to the contrary, Z39.50 is not simply used by libraries. The standard specifies a client/server-based protocol for searching and retrieving information from remote databases. (More: Z39.50 Maintenance Agency Page at the Library of Congress.)    (3YB4)