Metadata Registries Workshop Metadata Registries Workshop U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Conference Center April 15-17, 1998

SPONSORS l National Committee for Information Technology Standards (NCITS) L8, Data Representation l U.S. Environmental Protection Agency l U.S. Census Bureau l U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (DOL/BLS) l U.S. Department of Transportation Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (DOT/ITS) l U.S. Department of Defense - Health System - Health Data Administration Program l National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

SPONSORS l National Committee for Information Technology Standards (NCITS) L8, Data Representation l U.S. Environmental Protection Agency l U.S. Census Bureau l U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics l U.S. Department of Transportation Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office l U.S. Department of Defense - Health System, Health Data Administration Program l National Institute of Standards and Technology

ORGANIZERS l Bruce Bargmeyer - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency l Cathryn Dippo - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics l Daniel Gillman - U.S. Census Bureau l William P. LaPlant, Jr. - U.S. Census Bureau l Douglas Mann - Battelle Memorial Institute l Judith Newton - National Institute of Standards and Technology l Phong Ngo - SAIC l CDR. Robert W. Mayes, R.N. - Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) l Burton Parker - Paladin Integration Engineering l Andrew M. Shoka - MITRETEK Systems

EPA Information and Data Management SDC JE-7031 Workshop Goals Share knowledge and experience l Focus on metadata registration standards u ISO/IEC 11179, Specification and Standardization of Data Elements u DpANS X3.285, Metamodel for the Management of Sharable Data l Discuss implementations based on these standards

EPA Information and Data Management SDC JE-7031 Workshop Goals Facilitate collaborative efforts l Metadata Registry Development l Metadata exchange between registries l Standardize Content u Traditional data u Terminology u Unify text and data l Next generation registry standards u XML, RDF Schema, XML - Data (Content model?)

EPA Information and Data Management SDC JE-7031

EPA Information and Data Management SDC JE-7031 Standards for Data Administration Data Element Definitions ISO/IEC 11179, Part 4 Standards for Data Administration Data Element Definitions ISO/IEC 11179, Part 4 Bruce Bargmeyer U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Tel: (202) Internet: WWW:

EPA Information and Data Management SDC JE-7031 Challenges l Data element definitions and descriptions are not sufficient to support reuse or multiple users of data l Finding one standard data element among thousands is difficult or impossible without classification schemes, thesaurus structures and other reference guides l Need to focus data standardization on the definition and domain values rather than names

EPA Information and Data Management SDC JE-7031 A word or phrase expressing the essential nature of a person or thing or class of person or things: an answer to the question “what is x?” or “what is an x?”... (Webster’s Third New International Dictionary Unabridged, 1986) A type of definition for data elements: Definitions can be: l Stipulative l Precising l Persuasive l Intensional, Extensional, Lexical,... Types of Definitions

EPA Information and Data Management SDC JE-7031 Data Definition Rules A data definition shall: l Be unique (within a data dictionary) l Be stated in the singular l State what the concept is, rather than what it is not l Be stated as a descriptive phrase or sentence(s) l Contain only commonly understood abbreviations l Be expressed without embedding definitions of other data elements or underlying concepts

EPA Information and Data Management SDC JE-7031 Data Definition Guidelines A data definition should: l State the essential meaning of the concept l Be precise and unambiguous l Be concise l Be able to stand alone l Be expressed without embedding rationale, functional usage, domain information or procedural information l Avoid circular reasoning l Use consistent terminology and structure for related definitions

EPA Information and Data Management SDC JE-7031 Status ISO 11179, Part 4 - Rules and Guidelines for the Formulation of Data Definitions l Passed International Standard Ballot in 1994 l Published as International Standard 1995

EPA Information and Data Management SDC JE-7031 Epilog There is useful information that is not included in the definition. l Purpose of collection l Statistical method of collection l Data values (domain), usage, …. DpANS X3.285 extends data attribution to include some of the useful information left out of a definition. l Basic attributes l Extensible set of attributes

EPA Information and Data Management SDC JE-7031 CASE Tools and Metadata Registries Many CASE tools do not have a place to store the definition as a separate attribute. l “Description” can be a jumble of things We are working to include the X3.285 metamodel into the designs of CASE Tools and Registries.

EPA Information and Data Management SDC JE-7031

EPA Information and Data Management SDC JE-7031 Standards for Data Administration Data Element Classification ISO/IEC 11179, Part 2 Bruce Bargmeyer U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Tel: (202) Internet: WWW:

EPA Information and Data Management SDC JE-7031 Data Elements-Fundamentals Data Element Concept Data Element Value Domain ObjectClass PropertyRepresentation Core Data Element Application Data Element

EPA Information and Data Management SDC JE-7031 Utility of Data Element Classification l Helps to locate one data element among many (thousands) l Helps to design similar data elements in uniform manner l Helps to resolve synonym and homonym problems l Provides context not possible to put into a definition l Provides definitions for words found in data element definitions and names

EPA Information and Data Management SDC JE-7031 Classification Structures What forms can classification take? l Keywords l Controlled word lists l Terms from models l Thesaurus l Taxonomy l Ontology u Acyclic directed graph, lattice u Multiple inheritance

EPA Information and Data Management SDC JE-7031 Schemes l Library of Congress keywords l General European Multilingual Environmental Thesaurus (GEMET) l Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) - biological l Bill Kenworthey’s taxonomy of common abstract unit nouns

EPA Information and Data Management SDC JE-7031 Each node in a classification structure is a taxon (plural: taxa). l Given a classification structure, any taxa relating to a data element can be recorded l The taxa can be recorded in a separate “classification” attribute l With adequate software, users could access and navigate the classification structure l A nonintelligent identifier for each taxon helps to deal with change Classification - Fundamental Notions

EPA Information and Data Management SDC JE-7031 Status ANSI & ISO l Final committee draft is out for JTC1 ballot Continuing R&D l Concept is evolving u Search engines u Middleware - agents, mediators, request brokers u XML tags l Relationship to terminology management