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Dictionary
INTRODUCTION 3
DICTIONARY DESIGN 12
Introduction
Licence
As these are generic software documentation standards, they will be covered by the 'Creative
Commons Zero v1.0 Universal' CC0 licence.
Warranty
The author does not make any warranty, express or implied, that any statements in this document
are free of error, or are consistent with particular standard of merchantability, or they will meet the
requirements for any particular application or environment. They should not be relied on for solving
a problem whose incorrect solution could result in injury or loss of property. If you do use this
material in such a manner, it is at your own risk. The author disclaims all liability for direct or
consequential damage resulting from its use.
Purpose
This document describes the design for a Metadata Registry.
Audience
The Metadata Registry should be of use to all staff. This document can be read by all to understand
the why and how of the MDR.
Assumptions
It is assumed that this will be a useful firm wide resource. No business or technical knowledge is
required.
Approach
This document defines a simple implementation of the ISO/IEC 11179 standard for use on the firm’s
Intranet.
The Metadata Registry is the international standard for representing metadata for an organization.
In effect, it is a dictionary standard. Most large companies consist of a series of distinct professional
areas, each with their distinct, and sometime overlapping terms. A common Metadata Registry can
disambiguate the conflicting terms, and remove an important source of confusion.
Related Documents
Document Title Document Owner Department File Name and
Location
Definitions
Term Definition
Conceptual A set of unique terms that are used by a group of people to represent concepts that
Domain the group needs for communication. For example, Treasury, GL, IT, HR, etc. This is
the same as a Namespace.
Data Element A Data Element Concept is a concept that can be represented in the form of a data
Concept element, described independently of any particular representation. For example,
Account (GL) is different to Account (Cards).
Metadata Under ISO/IEC 11179, Metadata is defined to be data that defines and describes
other data. This means that metadata are data, and data become metadata when
they are used in this way. This happens under particular circumstances, for
particular purposes, and with certain perspectives, as no data are always metadata.
The set of circumstances, purposes, or perspectives for which some data are used
as metadata is called the context. So, metadata are data about data in some
context.
Metadata An information system for registering metadata. This could also be called a
Registry Metadata Glossary or Metadata Dictionary.
Value Domain A set of Permissible Values. For example, the set of all 6 character alphanumeric
fields or the subset of 6 numeric char used for BSB.
Value This is a finite allowed inventory of notions that can be enumerated. For example,
Enumerated valid BSB numbers are …
Tags
Business Intelligence ; Data Governance ; Data Mapping ; ISO 11179 ; Metadata ; Metadata
Dictionary ; Metadata Glossary ; Metadata Registry ; Namespace ; Standards ; Data Architect ;
Data Architecture ;
New staff
Standard Terms that are used in a unique way within the organisation or function.
The number of terms can easily expand to the thousands. The key need is to be able to collect all
terms in one place. Homonyms and synonyms can then be distinguished, and separate definitions
provided. Note that this is not an attempt to impose standard terms on all staff. Instead, it is to
recognise that each area has their jargon, and enabling staff how to negotiate the quite valid
differences.
Tower of Babel
"That is why it was called Babel because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world."
Genesis 11:9
Current Situation
There are a number of HTML pages, PDFs, etc that are used to define terms throughout .
1. Do not distinguish the domain over which the definition applies. (eg Account has a different
meaning in Cards and GL )
2. Do not distinguish the authority which has created the definition applies. (eg Product is
defined differently across , creating reporting confusion.)
3. Does not support the resolution of definitional issues such as homonyms, synonyms, etc.
5. Forces staff to spend time collecting and resolving definitions on an ad hoc basis.
This creates an incomplete, and potentially contradictory set of definitions that are only available to
some staff.
data_element_concept_conceptual_domain_relationship
Data_Element_Concept Conceptual_Domain
0..* 1..1
data_element_concept_expression conceptual_domain_representation
0..* 1..1
Data_Element Value_Domain
data_element_representation
Example Data
The following shows sample data that applies to an organisation.
Australia Australia
Data Data
Domain Domain
Finance Finance
HR Human Resources
IT Information Technology
Legal Legal
Location Location
Measure Measure
Operations Operations
OU Organisation Unit
Product Product
Project Project
Risk Risk
Sales Sales
Strategy Strategy
System System
Time Time
Tran Transaction
Treasury Treasury
XO External Organisation
AS Australian Standard
BO Business Objects
DM Data Modelling
GA General Abbreviation
BC IT GA Business Case
BI IT GA Business Intelligence
Capital Financ GA Generally, the money used to run a business. However, 's capital
e base is much larger in order to cover regulatory requirements
against losses as well as encompass the amount necessary for
operation.
Capital Financ GA Seeking money from current shareholders and other potential
raising e investors so can fund growth plans.
Compliance AS380 AS The values, ethics and beliefs that exist throughout and
culture 6 organisation and interact with the organisations structures and
control systems to produce behavioural norms that are conducive
to compliance outcomes.
Dictionary Design
A Domain or Namespace is a set of unique terms that are used by a group of people to represent
common concepts. For example, the set of all terms to do with Cards. Other relevant domains
include Treasury, Finance, IT, etc. For example, Account normally means a members credit card, but
it also means a GL Account. Both terms are valid within their domain or context. All terms should
have a unique definition named within their domain, but the same term can be reused in another
domain.
An Authority is an organization or person responsible for maintaining a set of dictionary terms. For
example, or APRA. In some instances, the actual source may not yet be determined, in which case it
is called a General term.
If not, then determine the new Authority, and ask the moderator to add it or add a new
internal Subject Matter Expert (SME).
If not, then add the new term, domain, internal authority and definition. Note that the
external definition should be retained. This will help to clarify the reason for the different definition,
and help people who know the external definition. Clearly, if the Authority is external then there
should not be much change in the term. Locally defined Terms may be subject to more change. See
content policy below for guidelines.
6 Are there any Terms that have an identical Domain and Authority?
If yes, then determine how the duplicate arose. If needed, the moderator will resolve the
duplication.
No original research: If it is an internal definition, always provide a definition that has been
previously agreed by two or more staff members. Do not use this dictionary as a forum to discuss a
new definition. Use e-mail or a meeting instead.
Neutral point of view: Always define from a neutral point of view, without bias, all possible
definitions.
Simplicity: Einstein: "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler." Be careful
not to oversimplify.
Next Steps
Staff would provide definitions. Initially, these will be collected from the intranet, documents,
contracts, etc. This can then be collected together, and published. Staff should be able to directly
update these via the intranet.
The domains and authorities pages would be fairly stable, so these could be set up as static HMTL.
The terms pages would be more dynamic, with a need to be able to update across the organisation.