U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Definitions of Terms and Phrases
These terms, phrases, and definitions are provided to facilitate the understanding of the data standards presented at this site.
| Classification System |
A collection of procedures, characteristics, and definitions used to classify and/or identify, things. Examples of things to be classified include mammals, birds, wetlands, plants, or insects. |
| Data Element |
An item used to contain data values. A data element can be a field in a relational database, a column in a flat file, an attribute used to describe spatial data, or a row or column in a spreadsheet. Examples of data elements are name, date, length, time, or cost. |
| Data Layer |
A data set or "coverage" used in Geographic Information System (GIS) analyses. |
| Data Set |
One or more data elements and associated data values. Examples of data sets are a database containing a mailing list or a flat file containing taxonomic names. |
| Data Value |
A single piece of information. Examples of data values are names, dates, or dollar amounts. |
| Procedure |
A series of defined steps or tasks. |
| Adopted |
A data value used to describe the phase of a standard. A standard is "Adopted" when it has been approved by the Director. |
| Approval Date |
The date on which the Director approved a data standard. |
| Data Steward |
The person responsible for a data standard. In this role, a Data Steward is charged by his/her Management to develop and maintain the data standard and to counsel Service personnel on the proper use of the data. He/she must: have a thorough knowledge of the subject matter of the standard, provide accurate and current electronic copies of data relevant to the standard, and weigh the pros and cons of comments received during review of the standard. He/she is authorized to defend or modify the standard as necessary in order to ensure its proper use. |
| Description |
A brief description of the standard with sufficient detail to enable the reader to use the standard correctly. |
| Draft |
A value used to describe the phase of a standard. A standard is a "Draft" when it has not yet been reviewed by the Data Steward. |
| Historical Data | Electronic copies of the original source data, as well as all revisions to the source data that occurred prior to the date noted in the Source section of the adopted standard. The initial data standard will also be provided if a major revision has been approved by the Director. |
| In Review |
A value used to describe the phase of a standard. A standard is "In Review" when the Director has distributed the standard to the Service Directorate for review. "In Review" also includes the period of time when the Data Steward is considering the comments received from the Service Directorate. |
| Initial Approval Date | The date on which the Director approved the initial data standard. |
| Name |
An easily understood name for the standard. It should not include jargon specific to a particular discipline such as biology, finance, engineering, etc. However, the name may include terms that are familiar to Service employees such as "Region" or "ecosystem". |
| Pending Revision | A value used to describe the phase of a standard after it has been adopted. A standard is "Pending Revision" when the Director has distributed a revision of the adopted standard to the Service Directorate for review. |
| Phase |
A description of where the standard is in the development process. The options are: Draft, Working Draft, In Review, Adopted, and Pending Revision. |
| Point of Contact | The person who is the first point of contact for questions and comments on a data standard. He/she will serve as the liaison between the designated Data Steward and Service users on all issues pertaining to the data standard. |
| Recommended Field Name | The recommended field name to be used in a database to facilitate data transfer between different systems and databases. |
| Reference |
A published reference which establishes or describes the standard. |
| Revision Approval Date | The date on which the Director approved a revision to the adopted data standard. |
| Source |
The source for electronic copies of the data values or data sets described by the standard. |
| Syntax |
Instructions describing how a data value should be coded and how long a data value may be. For example, NNN-NN-NNNN could be the syntax for coding a Social Security Number where each N represents a digit from 0 through 9. |
| Tools |
Items designed to facilitate the use of a standard or data. Tools can be text files containing explanatory information, database lookup tables, programs, macros, etc. |
| Type |
A data element may contain data values of the following types: character, date,
integer, time, real, etc. Definitions for the types currently in use are given
below; other definitions will be added as needed.
|
| Use Instructions |
Instructions on how and when the data standard should be used. These instructions may also describe strengths and weaknesses of the standard. |
| Validation Date |
The date the data standard was last reviewed by the Data Steward to ensure the continued utility and accuracy of the standard. |
| Working Draft |
A value used to describe the phase of a standard. A standard is a "Working Draft" when it has been reviewed by the Data Steward, but has not yet been distributed for formal review nor approved by the Director. |
Return to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Data Standards
Page.
Visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Home Page.
These pages are maintained by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Information Technology Management. Please feel free to contact Deb Southworth Green with any questions and comments.
Keywords=fish, wildlife, animals, birds, data, standards, definitions,
terms
Last Modified July 24, 2002 09:43 AM