Dictionary definition(s) for: data

• n., The smallest meaningful units of information.
  [ Archives - MCRI 412-2001 InterPARES 2 Detailed Proposal Forum , Page: 1 ]
  Duranti, Luciana. "International Research on Permanent Authentic Records in Electronic Systems (InterPARES): Experiential, Interactive and Dynamic Records. Project Proposal." InterPARES 2. http://interpares.org/display_file/InterPARES_2_detailed_proposal.pdf".
• n., A general term for information; particularly used for information stored in a database.
  [ Computer and Information Sciences - Harrod’s Librarians’ Glossary and Reference Book ]
  Harrod’s Librarians’ Glossary and Reference Book. 9th ed. Edited by Raymond John Prytherch. Brookfield, Vt.: Gower, 2000.
• n., Any form of information whether in paper or electronic form. In electronic form, data refers to the files and databases, text documents, images and digitally-encoded voice and video.
  [ Computer and Information Sciences - The Computer Glossary: The Complete Illustrated Dictionary ]
  Freedman, Alan. The Computer Glossary: The Complete Illustrated Dictionary. 8th ed. New York: American Management Association, 1998.
• n., Data is distinguished from other contrasting forms of information on which computers operate, such as text, graphics, speech, and image. The distinguishing characteristic is that it is organized in a structured, repetitive, and often compressed way. Typically the structure takes the form of sets of fields, where the field names are omitted (this omission being a main means of achieving compression). The “meaning” of such data is not apparent to anyone who does not know what each field signifies (for example, only a very limited meaning can be attached to “1234” unless you know that it occupies the “employee number” field). That characteristic gives rise to the popular fallacy that “data is meaningless”.
  [ Computer and Information Sciences - A Dictionary of Computing ]
  A Dictionary of Computing. Oxford University Press, 2004. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. University of British Columbia. 4 August 2006 http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t11.e1179
• n., Facts or instructions represented in a formalized manner, suitable for transmission, interpretation or processing manually or automatically.
  [ Archives - Dictionary of Archival Terminology ]
  Dictionary of Archival Terminology. 2nd rev. ed. Edited by Peter Walne. New York: K.G. Saur, 1988.
• n., Information, in any form, on which computer programs operate. The distinction between program (instructions) and data is a fundamental one in computing (see von Neumann machine). It is in this fundamental sense that the word is used in terms such as data, data break, data bus, data cartridge, data communications, data compression, data name, data protection, data subject, and data type.
  [ Computer and Information Sciences - A Dictionary of Computing ]
  A Dictionary of Computing. Oxford University Press, 2004. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. University of British Columbia. 4 August 2006 http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t11.e1179
• n., Numbers, characters, images or other methods of recording that represent values that can be stored, processed, and transmitted by electronic systems.
  [ General Dictionaries - Template for Analysis , Page: 201 ]
  Authenticity Task Force. "Template for Analysis." Appendix 1 in The Long-term Preservation of Authentic Electronic Records: Findings of the InterPARES Project. Edited by Luciana Duranti. San Miniato, Italy: Archilab, 2005. Also available online at http://interpares.org/book.
• n., Numbers, characters, images, or other method of recording, in a form which can be assessed by a human or (especially) input into a computer, stored and processed there, or transmitted on some digital channel.
  [ Computer and Information Sciences - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (FOLDOC) ]
  FOLDOC: Free Online Dictionary of Computing. http://foldoc.org/.
• n., Relevant observations made on artifacts serving as the basis for study and discussion.
  [ Sciences - Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology ]
  Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology. Edited by Barbara Ann Kipfer. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum, 2000.
• n., Technically, raw facts and figures, such as orders and payments, which are processed into information, such as balance and due and quantity on hand. However, in common usage, the terms data and information are used synonymously.
  [ Computer and Information Sciences - The Computer Glossary: The Complete Illustrated Dictionary ]
  Freedman, Alan. The Computer Glossary: The Complete Illustrated Dictionary. 8th ed. New York: American Management Association, 1998.
• n., The symbolic representation of facts or ideas, especially when in the form in which it was originally collected and is unanalyzed.
  [ Archives - A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology (The Society of American Archivists) ]
  Pearce-Moses, Richard. A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2005. http://www.archivists.org/glossary/index.asp