Glossary
Using this Glossary, we are seeking to define a “reliable shared language” between arts and science for the CREAM project. To contribute suggestions for terms and definitions for discussion please submit a comment using the form at the bottom of this page.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
| Term | Domain definitions / Interpretation | Cream usage |
|---|---|---|
| Action | Dictionary def: The fact or process of doing something, typically to achieve an aim. | |
| Active metadata / Active use of metadata | See Active Metadata page | Active metadata is the assemblage of metadata and annotations that is used actively within the process that generates it and is capable of being reused by another process. |
| Activity | Dictionary def: The condition in which things are happening or being done. | |
| Administrative metadata | “Administrative metadata provides information to help manage a resource, such as when and how it was created, file type and other technical information, and who can access it.” (NISO, 2001:1). |
|
| Artist | Dictionary def: A person who practises or performs any of the creative arts. | |
| Creative process |
The process underlying creativity. However, creativity itself has not found an ultimate definition. Whilst it is commonly understood the production of novel and useful artefacts, those engaged it creating experiences (e.g. a performance) would not agree with this object-oriented view. The difficulty of judging what is “novel” and “useful” to whom has been explored by Margaret A.Boden (2004) who separates psychological and historical creativity – meaning creativity relevant to either an individual or a wider!community. [IG] |
|
| Curation | {ART} Curation can either be used in a traditional sense (organising and maintaining a collection of artworks or artifact), or a more contemporary one (bringing together a collection/show/event). [IG]“[CLB] The Digital Curation Centre (DCC) description is as follows:“”Digital curation involves maintaining, preserving and adding value to digital research data throughout its lifecycle.””http://www.dcc.ac.uk/digital-curation/what-digital-curation” | |
| Data | Dictionary def: Facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis. | |
| Data management | Dictionary def: Data management is the process of controlling the information generated during a research project. | |
| Descriptive metadata | “Descriptive metadata describes a resource for purposes such as discovery and identification. It can include elements such as title, abstract, author, and keywords.” (NISO, 2001:1). |
|
| Engineer | Dictionary def: A person who designs, builds, or maintains engines, machines, or structures. | |
| Exploitation | Dictionary def: The action of making use of and benefiting from resources. | |
| Identification | Dictionary def: The action or process of identifying something. See http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/identify | |
| Improvisation | Dictionary def: The action or process of creating and performing spontaneously or without preparation. | |
| Input | Dictionary def: What is put in, taken in, or operated on by any process or system.
In procedural blending terms, an input describes everything that flows into an individual’s or a discipline’s creative practice, and can be recruited from very diverse categories such as tools or personal experiences. [IG] |
|
| Iteration | Dictionary def: Repetition of a mathematical or computational procedure applied to the result of a previous application, typically as a means of obtaining successively closer approximations to the solution of a problem.The term is also used to indicate that the same operation is applied to multiple data elements, or to indicate a “version”. | |
| Metadata | Dictionary def: A set of data that describes and gives information about other data. | |
| Method | Dictionary def: A particular procedure for accomplishing or approaching something, especially a systematic or established one | |
| Output | Dictionary def: The action or process of producing something.It is also commonly used as a noun, referring to the outcomes of such processes. | |
| Packaging | ||
| Parameter | [GK] A /parameter/ (or /argument/) is a value or datum that is supplied at the point of invocation some procedure or function to be used as a value within that procedure or function. A similar notion is applied to workflows where some value can be provided by a workflow to be used by a step of that workflow. (Such values might well be considered to be active metadata.) See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parameter#Computer_programming |
|
| Preservation | ||
| Procedural blending | See Procedural blending page. | |
| Procedural metadata | Procedural metadata has been defined as describing ‘all actions and changes that have been applied to the content’ (Lehikoinen et all, 2007) . These might include Photoshop activities such as cropping, applying filters and such like or airbrushing mode’s images. However, IG advocates a wider reading of this term, allowing for the recording of metadata from the creative process such as physial conditions or environments or motor skills. | |
| Process | “[ART] In my field, process is expanding to encompass more than the steps involved to also include subconscious aspects [IG]”[CLB] Not aware of a generally accepted definition or even description, so will have to give this one some thought …[GK] I would lean to the PROV definition of an “Activity” here: “An activity is something that occurs over a period of time and acts upon or with entities; it may include consuming, processing, transforming, modifying, relocating, using, or generating entities.” — http://www.w3.org/TR/2013/REC-prov-dm-20130430/#section-entity-activity[CLB] Not aware of a generally accepted definition or even description, so will have to give this one some thought … |
|
| Provenance | “[CLB] The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) definition is as follows: “”Provenance is information about entities, activities, and people involved in producing a piece of data or thing, which can be used to form assessments about its quality, reliability or trustworthiness.”” http://www.w3.org/TR/prov-overview/”[GK] My take, based somewhat on Thanasis’ comments, is “A key difference is that the W3C PROV information is intended to represent a definitive set of observations about how an artifact came to exist, usable directly as supporting evidence for some claim, where culural heritage provenance may be a matter of opinion and may legitimately exist in contradictory versions.” — https://github.com/gklyne/DMO_Experiment/blob/master/CIDOC_CRM_PROV.md[IG] data provenance: “process of tracing and recording the origins of data and its movement between databases” [1] |
|
| Provenance sandwich | Metadata used actively can be part of the “filling in the provenance sandwich”, by recording, in part at least, how prospective provenance turns into retrospective provenance.An emerging view of “the filling” is that of key decisions made affecting the unfolding of a process, and the particular “active metadata” upon which those decisions are based. | |
| Reflexive documentation |
An approach developed in action research where participants reflect on and document their on subjective experiences and conditions, including conceptual presuppositions. [IG] |
|
| Research | Dictionary def: The systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions. | |
| Reinterpretation | Reinterpretation of research data is a process that involves re-analysing it with new methods or in the light of new information or insights, possibly arriving at conclusions that differ from some previous analysis of the same data.
Dictionary def: To interpret again or anew. To give a new or different interpretation to |
|
| Reproducibility | Reproducibility is used with different definition, some of which allow for a margin of errors.For example: “Repeatability or test–retest reliability is the variation in measurements taken by a single person or instrument on the same item, under the same conditions, and in a short period of time. A less-than-perfect test–retest reliability causes test–retest variability. Such variability can be caused by, for example, intra-individual variability and intra-observer variability. A measurement may be said to be repeatable when this variation is smaller than a pre-determined acceptance criteria.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repeatability
In the case of software and/or computational workflows, this term also refers to a sufficiency of available information and resources for a previously performed computation to be re-run obtaining the exact same results. As one of the main principles of the scientific method, “…Reproducibility is the ability of an entire experiment or study to be duplicated, either by the same researcher or by someone else working independently. Reproducing an experiment is called replicating it.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reproducibility |
|
| Reusability | “In computer science and software engineering, reusability is the use of existing assets in some form within the software product development process. Assets are products and by-products of the software development life cycle and include code, software components, test suites, designs and documentation”. – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reusability
In research, this notion of re-usability extends to observations and datasets, and implies availability of the corresponding data in a commonly recognized form, along with sufficient information to allow a researcher to understand and interpret the information it conveys. |
|
| Scientific process | ||
| Scientist | Dictionary def: A person who is studying or has expert knowledge of one or more of the natural or physical sciences. | |
| Selection criteria | ||
| Self-adaptive workflow | ||
| Structural metadata | “Structural metadata indicates how compound objects are put together, for example, how pages are ordered to form chapters” (NISO, 2001:1) [IG] | |
| Technique | Dictionary def: A way of carrying out a particular task, especially the execution or performance of an artistic work or a scientific procedure. | |
| Template | Dictionary def: Something that serves as a model for others to copy | |
| Validation | There is distinction to be made between validation and verification; one view can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verification_and_validation.In the information space,“validation” is often a a check for syntactic (well formedness) constrains, where verification is a check for semantic (correctness, accuracy, truthfulness) constraints, although there is no absolute clarity and two opposing views can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk and https://en.wikipedia.org/ (see “related concepts”). | |
| Workflow | Dictionary def: The sequence of industrial, administrative, or other processes through which a piece of work passes from initiation to completion.Commonly, and particularly in ethnographic studies, the term “workflow” refers to human activities or interactions between people and some administrative system that may or may not be automated.In the field of computational science, the term is sometimes used to refer more specifically to (mostly) predefined sequences of computations that are performed to obtain results from raw observation data.
See geosmeta, some examples on workflow templates, instances and runs and showcase RO workflow integration and provenance. |
|
Re. “provenance sandwich” – based on recent discussions, I think an emerging view of “the filling” is that of key decisions made affecting the unfolding of a process, and the particular “active metadata” upon which those decisions are based.
“Validation” – I think there’s a distinction to be made here between validation and verification; one view is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verification_and_validation.
In the information space, I find “validation” is often a a check for syntactic (well formedness) constrains, where verification is a check for semantic (correctness, accuracy, truthfulness) constraints, but I’m not sure if this aligns with any more generally accepted viewpoint. One page supports this view: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/ict/databases/3datavalidationrev1.shtml, but another seems to oppose this position: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_verification_and_validation (see “related concepts”)
So it’s all a bit of a mess. What is it that *we* mean to convey buy this term? Do we actually use it “normatively”?
“Identification” – this definition seems somewhat recursive, so without a separate definition of “identify” doesn’t really help much too identify(sic) the meaning of “identification”. Suggest add http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/identify?
“iteration” – “typically as a means of obtaining successively closer approximations to the solution of a problem” – suggest adding to this: ” … or to apply the same operation to multiple data elements”
“output” the definition given is as a verb, but in data processing it’s also used as a noun.
“Reproducibility”, etc. This is an area where it’s hard to find a single authjoratitive source of definitions, and different scholars and sources seem to have different views. The following suggestions are offered based mainly on wikipedia, and augmented with comments from a perspective encountered from working with computational workflows.
…
Repeatability or test–retest reliability[1] is the variation in measurements taken by a single person or instrument on the same item, under the same conditions, and in a short period of time. A less-than-perfect test–retest reliability causes test–retest variability. Such variability can be caused by, for example, intra-individual variability and intra-observer variability. A measurement may be said to be repeatable when this variation is smaller than a pre-determined acceptance criteria. – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repeatability
This a traditional definition based ion processes in which measurement errors are expected. In the case of software and/or computational workflows, this term also refers to a sufficiency of available information and resources for a previously performed computation to be re-run obtaining the exact same results.
…
Reproducibility is the ability of an entire experiment or study to be duplicated, either by the same researcher or by someone else working independently. Reproducing an experiment is called replicating it. Reproducibility is one of the main principles of the scientific method. – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reproducibility
…
Reusability – In computer science and software engineering, reusability is the use of existing assets in some form within the software product development process. Assets are products and by-products of the software development life cycle and include code, software components, test suites, designs and documentation. – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reusability
In research, this notion of re-usability extends to observations and datasets, and implies availability of the corresponding data in a commonly recognized form, along with sufficient information to allow a researcher to understand and interpret the information it conveys.
…
Reinterpretation (I struggle to find a relevant definition of this, but suggest the following … perhaps a real scientist can do better here?)
Reinterpetation of research data is a process that involves reanalysing it with new methods or in the light of new information or insights, possibly arriving at conclusions that differ from some previous analysis of the same data.
Re. “workflow”
I suggest adding something like this:
[[
Commonly, and particularly in ethnographic studies, the term “workflow” is used to refer to human activities, ior interactions between people and some administrative system that may or may not be automated.
In the field of computational science, the term is sometimes used to refer more specifically to (mostly) predefined sequences of computations that are performed to obtain results from raw observation data.
]]
Thanks for you suggestions, Graham. I’ve incorporated them into the glossary.
I would suggest that we split “Curation” to “Curation (artistic activity)” and “Curation (data management)”
About Provenance: I think the definition is OK, but provenance is not only about production of a thing. It is also about use and ownership by “actors/agents”.
Sorry, nitpicking but given the subject I thought I ought to comment: The definition for structural metadata is a bit wrong. “Structural metadata indicates how compound objects are put together, for example, how pages are ordered to form chapters” Pages are parts of physical things and they can form book sections, or gatherings. Chapters are conceptual entities and they can only be formed by other conceptual entities, not physical things. We cannot change the definition since it is a quote from a NISO text, but maybe it is useful to keep this comment.