Draft OMB Policy Promoting Greater Public Access to Government Information and Improving Information Resource Management Including Through Using the Federal Enterprise Architecture Data reference Model (DRM). Essential Excerpt: (3059)
- However, in some instances, such as for data interchanges among specific identifiable groups, or for significant information dissemination products, advance information preparation, e.g., using commercially available indexing tools or developing formal information models, may be appropriate. Footnote 14 In deciding what level of advance preparation is necessary, agencies should consider the significance of the information dissemination product or data interchange to the agency mission and the level of public interest. As significance increases, so too may the need for advance information preparation. When formal information models are deemed necessary, agencies must apply the new policies below concerning such models and the Federal Enterprise Architecture DRM. Footnote 15 (305A)
- Footnote 14: Specific identifiable groups, also known as “communities of interest,” can include any combination of Federal agencies, State, local, and tribal governments, industry, scientific community, academia, and specific interested members of the general public. Formal information models include but are not limited to data models, data dictionaries, thesauri, taxonomies, topic maps, ontologies, controlled vocabularies, and exchange packages. (305B)
- Footnote 15: ADD LINK TO DRM (305C)
CoI Versus CoP Clarification (1), Implementation Discussion (2), and Definitions (3): (305D)
- (1) The concept of a community of practice (often abbreviated as CoP) refers to the process of social learning that occurs when people who have a common interest in some subject or problem collaborate over an extended period to share ideas, find solutions, and build innovations. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_of_practice (3060)
- The term Communities of Practice - though because of the words chosen for it, the term seems as though it stands just for shared practice - was created to refer to a larger whole. It is a common misconception that other types of communities are needed to refer to a different philosophical foundation. The theoretical foundation for the below mentioned 'community types' all root in what has been described for Communities of Practice (see discussion of this article). However, it might serve as specific practical purpose to refer to a specific type of Community of Practice using more illustrative expressions such as: (305E)
- Communities of Interest are communities of people who share a common interest or passion, such as rugby fans on Rugby365.com, or music lovers on MP3.com. These people exchange ideas and thoughts about the given passion, but may know (or care) little about each other outside of this area. Participation in a Community of Interest can be compelling, entertaining and create a ‘sticky’ community where people return frequently and remain for extended periods. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communities_of_Interest (305F)
- The term Communities of Practice - though because of the words chosen for it, the term seems as though it stands just for shared practice - was created to refer to a larger whole. It is a common misconception that other types of communities are needed to refer to a different philosophical foundation. The theoretical foundation for the below mentioned 'community types' all root in what has been described for Communities of Practice (see discussion of this article). However, it might serve as specific practical purpose to refer to a specific type of Community of Practice using more illustrative expressions such as: (305E)
- (2) Joe Chiusano's Mapping Between the DRM Abstract Model and the DRAFT OMB Section 207d / DRM Guidance Footnote 14: (305S)
- Data models -> Data Description (305T)
- Data dictionaries -> Data Description (305U)
- Thesauri -> Data Context (305V)
- Taxonomies -> Data Context (305W)
- Topic maps -> Data Context (305X)
- Ontologies -> Data Context (305Y)
- Controlled vocabularies -> Data Context (305Z)
- Exchange packages -> Data Sharing (305G)
- (3) Definitions from DRM 2.0 Appendix B: Glossary of Selected Terms (supplemented where necessary): (305H)
- 1. Data models: 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 model that describes in an abstract way how data is represented in a business organization, an information system or a database management system; (See Wikipedia-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_model). (305I)
- 2. Data dictionaries: provides names, definitions, points-of-contact, data type, and formats for identification and maintenance of data elements currently in use. (305J)
- Also data element definition: 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 (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO-11179) also give guidelines for creating precise data element definitions; (Wikipedia-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_element_definition). (305K)
- 3. Thesauri: 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) (305L)
- 4. Taxonomies: 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) (305M)
- 5. Topic maps: topic-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). (305N)
- An ISO standard for the representation and interchange of knowledge, with an emphasis on the findability of information. The standard is formally known as ISO/IEC 13250:2003. A topic map can represent information using topics (representing any concept, from people, countries, and organizations to software modules, individual files, and events), associations (which represent the relationships between them), and occurrences (which represent relationships between topics and information resources relevant to them). (305O)
- 6. Ontologies: 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) (305P)
- 7. Controlled vocabularies: 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 must 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) (305Q)
- 8. Exchange packages: 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). (305R)