Terms - Proposals

[Tony Linde]

> >>> database  

Maybe we should lose this term - a database is a computing term, a thing
created under a DBMS which organises data in some regular way (in terms of
tables in a RDBMS - which is what you buy from Oracle, not a database,
usually). A physical database might store multiple collections of data and a
collection might be spread across several databases. It is likely an
implementation issue of little interest to the user (or to the querier of a
registry).

> >>> mirror  copy  
...
> I think we need another term to mean something very similar but 
...
> Of these I prefer likeness and representation because they signify an 
> inexact copy more than the others do.  Then we need to discuss 
> attributes of inexactness.

How about 'mirror' with your definition Ed, 'snapshot' for a static copy
taken at a given time and 'extract' for any copy which is partial or has had
modifications to it.

So a mirror will generally always return the same results as the original. A
snapshot can only guarantee to return the same results up until the next
update of the original. An extract can never guarantee to return the same
results.

Cheers,
Tony. 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-registry at eso.org [mailto:owner-registry at eso.org] 
> On Behalf Of Ed Shaya
> Sent: 10 December 2004 18:10
> Cc: registry at ivoa.net
> Subject: Re: Terms - Proposals
> 
> Martin @ ROE wrote:
> 
> > Tony Linde wrote:
> >
> >>> data collection
> >>> dataset (which I think is just my term for data collection)
> >>
> >
> > Perhaps we could consider a 'dataset' as the data from a particular 
> > instrument/survey, and a collection as number of datasets.  For 
> > example, SSA, USNO-B and 2MASS are three datasets in one data 
> > collection at the ROE datacenter...?
> >
> For published tables, we refer to a published set of tables, plus 
> metadata about the set, as a dataset.  If the same team works 
> on similar 
> science with similar instruments and publishes again, then the two 
> datasets form a new collection that grows with further such 
> publications.  This collection can be part of larger collection.
> 
> >>> database  
> >>
> >
> > The storage medium.  A database might be SQL Server, or a 
> collection 
> > of FITS files.
> >
> Database is a slippery term used in several ways.  If you say 
> that you 
> are buying a database from Oracle, you are of course talking about 
> purchasing an application with no data.  All of the data 
> accessed by a 
> given database application is also called the database.  And often  
> that  data is  divided into  collections which are separately 
>  called  
> databases.   Sometimes a collection of data is called a  
> database even 
> though there is no existing software to read it.  Webster's Ninth 
> Collegiate Dictionary
> says n (1967):   a collection of data organized esp. for 
> rapid search  
> and retrieval  (as by a computer).
> 
> Perhaps we need to modify this  definition  to
> n (2004) a collection of datasets organized at a datacenter for rapid 
> search and retrievable by a computer network.  This  
> explicitly leaves 
> out applications, datasets that are not accessible and  
> differentiates 
> it from a collection because it can not span over several 
> datacenters.  
> A new point, I am aware.
> 
> >
> >>> mirror  copy  
> >>
> Mirror - a rapidly updating exact match to a collection or database
> Copy - an exact match to a collection or dataset or table at 
> a given time
> I think we need another term to mean something very similar but 
> different in some minor way.  Some possible terms that come to mind:
> facsimile [L. fac simile make similar (1691)]
> representation  [fr,MF  re presenter to present again (15c)]
> replica [fr. replicare to repeat fr. L, to fold back]
> reproduction
> likeness
> 
> Of these I prefer likeness and representation because they signify an 
> inexact copy more than the others do.  Then we need to discuss 
> attributes of inexactness.
> 
> Ed
> 
>