Glossary of Document, Records and Content Management Terms

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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

.NET A Microsoft development environment incorporating applications, a suite of tools and services for developing, building and deploying web-based enterprise applications online.

3G Third generation mobile network.

A

ADF Automatic Document Feeder.

ADSL Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. A method used in broadband connection technology for moving data over regular phone lines. An ADSL circuit is much faster than a regular phone connection, and the wires coming into the subscriber’s premises are the same (copper) wires used for regular phone service.

AFNOR Association Française de Normalisation (www.afnor.fr). The French equivalent of the British Standards Institution.

AFP Advanced Function Printing—IBM print method using software to merge text and forms.

AIIM International Association for Information and Image Management. US association representing the enterprise content management sector of the IT industry worldwide (www.aiim.org). Represented in Europe by UK-based AIIM Europe (www.aiim.org.uk).

AIT Advanced Intelligent Tape. A magnetic tape storage system developed by Sony.

AIX Advanced Interactive eXecutive. A variation of the UNIX operating system originating from IBM.

Alphanumeric Relating to a character set comprising letters and numbers.

Alphanumeric COM recorder Computer output microfilm recorder that records only alphanumeric characters.

American National Standards Institute See ANSI

American Standard Code for Information Interchange See ASCII

Annotation The attachment of notes to images or graphics by typing or using a digitising tablet.

ANSI American National Standards Institute (www.ansi.org). The US equivalent of the British Standards Institution.

Aperture card An 80-column computer card containing an aperture into which a single frame of unexposed or processed 35mm microfilm can be mounted. Index data can be punched on the card.

API Application Programming Interface. High level programming function which is used to assist one program to communicate with another. A document management system vendor will provide an API to help programmers integrate that system with other applications and use other applications to control the document management system.

Architecture The way a computer system is designed and its components connected together.

ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A standard table of 7-bit codes for digital representation of letters, numbers and special control characters. ASCII is used for the storage of alphanumeric information in most PC and RISC computer systems.

ASP Application Service Provider.

Aspect ratio Ratio of the height to width of a page, display screen, image frame, etc.

Association for Information and Image Management See AIIM

Association Française de Normalisation See AFNOR.

ATL Automated Tape Library.

ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode. A network technology based on transferring data in cells or packets of a fixed size.

Audit trail A record of the activity that has occurred to a certain file/document that may be kept for legal reasons.

Auto Categorisation and Classification Software that, after training, can automatically read the content of a document, categorise it and classify it as belonging to one or more categories and classifications based on business rules defined by users.

Autochanger A type of device that holds multiple storage media (optical disks, tapes, etc.) and multiple drives and one or more robotic arm for swapping media in and out of drives as needed. See Jukebox, Library Unit

B

B2B (business-to-business) commerce Electronic transactions between organisations.

B2C (business-to-consumer) commerce Electronic transactions between organisations and individual consumers.

B2G (business to government) commerce Electronic transactions between organisations and government.

Backfile conversion Process of converting files/documents that have accumulated over a period of time. Used in reference to projects to microfilm or scan and digitise documents. See also Conversion

Background Parts of a page or image that do not include text, lines or other information.

Back-up A copy of data for short-term storage as an assurance against loss of master data. The process of producing a back-up copy.

BASDA Business Application Software Developers Association. Association of software suppliers that have agreed a set of XML schemas for e-business, including electronic invoices and purchase orders.

Barcode A machine-readable array of vertical lines and spaces representing data.

BCS Business Classification Scheme. Method of organising information for purposes such as retrieval, storage and retention scheduling. May be used to organise paper files and/or an EDRM system. See also Fileplan.

Bi-level A binary scan in which each pixel represents either black or white, i.e. no grey or colour values. Synonymous with black-and-white and monochrome.

Binary digit See Bit

Binary notation Any notation that uses two different characters, e.g. the binary digits 0 and 1.

BIP 0008:2004 Current version of BSI Code of Practice for legal admissibility and evidential weight of information stored electronically.

BIP 0009:2004 Compliance Workbook for use with BIP 0008:2004.

Bit Represents the binary code (0 or 1) with which digital computers work.

Bitmap A representation of an image containing characters, graphics, etc. as a series of pixels arranged in horizontal and vertical sequence. Each pixel can be represented by one bit or up to 32 bits. See also Raster graphics.

Bits per inch See bpi

BizTalk A set of Microsoft-backed standards for using XML for B2B transactions.

Bleed through The unwanted appearance of information printed on the reverse of a page when viewing/microfilming/scanning the front of the page.

Blog Contraction of web log. A news or commentary website where entries are usually displayed in reverse chronological order and where readers can leave comments.

Boolean searching Text searching technique using Boolean logic operators such as AND, OR and NOT.

bpi bits per inch. Measurement of information storage density on media.

BPM Business Process Management.

BPR Business Process Re-engineering. Name given to a project that involves modelling one or more business processes, redesigning them and then implementing the new processes often using DIP and workflow management software.

British Standards Institution The UK national standards body (www.bsi-global.com).

BSI see British Standards Institution

Business Classification Scheme See BCS.

Byte A group of 8 bits. This is a convenient grouping for computers because the main computer character codes both fit into an 8-bit format. See ASCII, EBCDIC

C

Cache The space used for the temporary storage of data that must be accessed quickly. Usually an area of RAM memory which holds frequently used data from a hard disk.

CAD Computer Aided Design/Drawing. Computer application programs commonly used by draughtsmen and engineers.

CALS Computer Aided Acquisition and Logistics Support. An initiative established by the USA Department of Defense (DOD) efficiently to manage technical information in digital form for the design, management and support of equipment. CALS will encompass a set of standards for documents which will apply to every contractor and subcontractor on DOD projects.

Camera card An aperture card containing a frame of unexposed film for use in an aperture card camera-processor.

Camera-processor Type of microfilm camera with an integral film processing unit.

CAR Computer Assisted Retrieval. Software for indexing and optionally retrieving information stored on a range of microforms or paper. In response to a search request the software may produce a hit list for manual retrieval or may drive a semi-automatic microfilm retrieval unit or paper retrieval unit.

Cartridge A removable container with a single core for a serial medium, e.g. magnetic tape or roll microfilm.

CAS Content Addressable Storage. A method of storing information that can be retrieved based on its content, not its storage location. Used in storage devices such as EMC Centera and HP StorageWorks

Cassette A removable container for a serial medium such as magnetic tape or roll microfilm. Contains two cores allowing the medium to be wound from one core to the other in either direction.

Catalist A catalogue-based procurement scheme (replacing GCat and S-Cat) to provide UK public sector organisations with a simplified means of procuring and contracting for a wide range of IT products and services from a variety of service providers. Catalist procurement is an alternative OJEU for the procurement of services in the public sector. http://www.ogcbuyingsolutions.gov.uk.

CCD Charge Coupled Device. A semiconductor device which converts light to electronic impulses. Linear and two-dimensional CCD arrays are used in scanners and digital cameras as the first stage in converting an image into digital data.

CCITT Consultative Committee for International Telephone and Telegraphy. An international committee that set standards for fax, including Group III and Group IV fax standards that included data compression and decompression. Now known as International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

CD-DA Compact Disk-Digital Audio.

CD-R Compact Disk-Recordable. Write Once Read Many (WORM) version of CD-ROM. CD-R disks produced on a CD-R recorder should be playable on a CD-ROM player.

CD-ROM Compact Disk-Read Only Memory. CD-ROM is a version of CD for the storage of digital data.

CD-RW Compact Disk-ReWritable. Compact disk on which data can be erased and overwritten with new data.

Central Processing Unit See CPU

CGM Computer Graphics Metafile. Standard for the interchange of graphic images used widely in DTP and CAD applications.

Character A single letter, numeric digit or punctuation mark as defined by ASCII or EBCDIC codes. One character requires 1 byte of storage.

Character recognition Machine reading of human readable text. See also ICR, OCR, OMR

Charge-coupled device See CCD

Client/server A networked computer architecture where numerous clients are connected to one or more server computers. In a DM system, PC or workstation clients are used for viewing, editing, image processing, etc. Servers hold the index database and manage the image files.

CMS Content Management System. Commonly refers to a web content management system.

COLD Computer Output to Laser Disk, also referred to as ERM (Enterprise Report Management). Process whereby computer output, such as reports, are captured, indexed and stored to optical disk. Cheaper than online storage with the possibility of direct recovery using indexed searches. Sometimes referred to as COM replacement.

COM Computer Output on Microfilm. Process whereby computer data is output in pre-set sequence in analogue form and recorded directly on microfilm.

COM Component Object Model.

COM recorder Device for producing computer output microfilm.

Compact Disk-Read Only Memory See CD-ROM

Compact Disk-Recordable See CD-R

Compound document A document containing multiple content objects or data types often created on different application software, i.e. not text only or image only. Contrasts with a simple document.

Compression Means of reducing stored image file sizes. Commonly used in DIP systems where the bit-map image for an A4 page is typically reduced to around 40KByte, but also used for program and data files in order to increase disk capacity. Decompression is the process which restores files to their original state.

Computer Aided Acquisition and Logistics Support See CALS

Computer Aided Design/Drawing See CAD

Computer Assisted Retrieval See CAR

Computer Output on Laser Disk See COLD

Computer Output on Microfilm See COM

Constant Angular Velocity See CAV

Constant Linear Velocity See CLV

Consultative Committee for International Telephone and Telegraphy See CCITT

Content Addressable Storage See CAS

Content Management Term used to refer to systems that manage the content objects which form documents. Can be used to differentiate compound document management systems from simple document management systems. Increasingly being used as an alternative, technically more accurate, term for an electronic document management system.

Continuous tone image Image comprising infinite number of grey levels between black and white. Sometimes referred to as greyscale image.

Conversion Process of converting documents from one form to another, e.g. paper to digital.

CORBA Common Object Request Broker Architecture.

Corporate portal See Portal.

CPU Central Processing Unit. That part of a computer which carries out the processing.

CRM Customer Relationship Management.

CTI Computer Telephony Integration.

D

DAM Digital Asset Management

DASD Direct Access Storage Device. Any online data storage device. Magnetic disk drives and CD-ROM drives are DASD devices.

DAT Digital Audio Tape. Form of magnetic tape on which digital data can be efficiently stored.

Database Data that has been organised in a disciplined way to ensure that it can be accessed quickly and flexibly.

DBMS Database Management System. Software for operating and managing databases.

DCA Document Content Architecture. An IBM standard for word processing files.

DCMI see Dublin Core Metadata Initiative

DCOM Distributed Component Object Model

DDA Disability Discrimination Act 1995. UK websites must comply with DDA accessibility requirements.

DDE Dynamic Data Exchange. A procedure developed by Microsoft whereby data from one Windows application can be exchanged with another. Typically invoked by copying from one application and pasting into another application.

Decompression The opposite of compression, i.e. the expansion of a compressed data file to its original size.

Desktop publishing See DTP

De-speckle Image enhancement technique which allows minor imperfections or speckles in bit-map images to be erased.

Deutsches Institut für Normung. German standards organisation. See DIN

Diazo film A photographic film commonly used for microfilm duplication. Requires exposure to ultra-violet light and processing with ammonia. Typically blue or black in colour when processed.

Digital Audio Tape See DAT

Digital certificate An attachment to an electronic message used to authenticate the sender for security reasons.

Digital Optical Recording See DOR

Digital Preservation Coalition See DPC

Digital to Analogue Converter See DAC, D/A

Digitisation Process of producing digitally encoded electronic files from paper or microform documents. Commonly achieved by scanning to produce a bitmap image of a page and then assigning a binary code to the resulting raster graphics data.

DIN Deutsches Institut für Normung (www.din.de). German equivalent of British Standards Institution.

DIP Document Image Processing. Document image processing systems transform unstructured information held on paper documents or microfilm into digital images. These, together with a suitable index, can become the basis for the automation of filing, storage, retrieval, distribution and display of documents.

Direct Read After Write. See DRAW

DIRKSDesigning and Implementing Recordkeeping Systems. An eight-step methodology developed in Australia for managing business information and records. Complies with ISO 15489.

Disk drive A device for reading and/or writing data on a disk.

Display In the context of this guide a display is a device for viewing textual and/or graphical images.

DjVu A proprietary image compression algorithm and decompression software developed by AT&T and marketed by LizardTech.com. Designed to provide higher compression rates for greyscale and colour images than standard compression techniques such as JPEG. Used to deliver greyscale and colour image files across the Internet.

DLT Digital Linear Tape.

Document A collection of data organised into some logical order. Often associated with a specific task. Historically stored as formatted paper pages or frames on microfilm. Digital documents can be stored formatted or in processable form.

Document Content Architecture See DCA

Document Image Processing See DIP

Document Enabled Networking See DEN

Document Management System See Electronic Document Management System

Document Type Definition. See DTD

DoD 5015 US Department of Defense Design criteria standard for electronic records management software applications. Two-part standard and compliance testing regime for records management systems in US government.

Domain name The unique name that identifies an Internet site, e.g. www.cimtech.co.uk. Domain names always have two or more parts, separated by dots. The part on the left is the most specific, and the part on the right is the most general.

DOR Digital Optical Recording. The process of recording digital information onto an optical medium, e.g. disk, tape.

DOS Disk Operating System. Commonly used to refer to MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System) developed by Microsoft Corporation.

DOT Digital Optical Tape. A storage medium in which a coating on a tape backing is modified by a laser beam. Can store 1,000 GB of data on a single role of 1 inch tape.

DPA Data Protection Act.

DPC Digital Preservation Coalition. An organisation established in 2001 to address the challenge of securing the preservation of digital resources.

dpi (dots per inch) Measure of image resolution and quality in horizontal and vertical dimensions. Used to define scanner, printer and display screen resolution.

DRAW Direct Read After Write. A recording technique that reads while writing in order to verify the written data. Optical disk storage is DRAW.

Drive Device for reading and/or writing a data storage medium.

DRM Digital Rights Management.

DTD Document Type Definition. The formal definition of the elements, structures and rules for marking up a given type of SGML document. A DTD can be stored at the beginning of a document or externally in a separate file.

DTP Desktop publishing. The use of desktop computers and page layout software for the production of publications. Output can be direct to desktop printers of via high resolution image setters and conventional printing processes.

Dublin Core Metadata Initiative An open forum engaged in the development of interoperable online metadata standards that support a broad range of purposes and business models. DCMI's activities include consensus-driven working groups, global workshops, conferences, standards liaison, and educational efforts to promote widespread acceptance of metadata standards and practices.

Duplicator (microform) Machine for producing duplicate copies of microforms.

DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) DVD disks are similar in size (120mm diameter) to Compact Disks but are capable of storing at least six to seven times more data due to use of finer pits and more closely spaced tracks. Single or dual sided disks are available as well as single or dual layer. Single-sided, single-layer disks have a capacity of 4.7GB.

DVD-ROM The basic pre-recorded DVD disk, which supports DVD-Audio and DVD-Video formats. Also used to describe other DVD formats not defined in the DVD specifications including PC/Mac applications and DVD-based games consoles, etc.

DVD-R A recordable write-once DVD format, with a capacity of 3.95 GB (first generation) or 4.7GB per side. There are two versions, (i) authoring version with no copy protection and (ii) general version (for consumer use) with copy protection (CPRM) and no CSS capability (which mean these disks cannot be used to copy CSS protected disks).

DVD-RAM A re-writable DVD, with capacities of 2.6 GB (first generation) or 4.7 GB (second generation) per side.

DVD-RW A re-writable DVD with a capacity of 4.7 GB per side. The DVD-RW is an alternative to the DVD-RAM, which supports fewer re-write cycles than DVD-RAM but is claimed to be more compatible with DVD-ROM drives. (DVD-R and DVD-RW are supported by Panasonic, Toshiba, Apple, Hitachi, NEC, Pioneer, Samsung and Sharp.)

DVD+R A recordable write-once DVD format. (DVD+R and DVD+RW are supported by Philips, HP, Dell, Ricoh, Yamaha, etc.)

DVD+RW A re-writable 12cm optical disk with a capacity of 4.7GB per side developed by Philips and Pioneer as an alternative to

DVD-RAM It is claimed to offer almost total compatibility with existing players, but is not an official DVD format.

Dynamic Data Exchange See DDE

E

ebXML Electronic Business using eXtensible Markup Language. A modular suite of specifications that enables enterprises of any size and in any geographical location to conduct business over the Internet. Using ebXML, companies now have a standard method to exchange business messages, conduct trading relationships, communicate data in common terms and define and register business processes.

e-GIF e-Government Interoperability Framework. Set of technical policies and specifications governing information exchange in the UK public sector.

e-GMF e-Government Metadata Framework. e-GMF sets out the Government’s policies for establishing and implementing metadata standards across the public sector. These standards will be used across all government information systems. Now incorporated into e-GIF.

e-GMS e-Government Metadata Standard. Forms part of the e‑government interoperability framework. e-GMS lays down the elements, refinements and encoding schemes to be used by government officers when creating metadata for their information resources or designing search systems for information systems. The e-GMS is needed to ensure maximum consistency of metadata across public sector organisations.

EAI Enterprise Application Integration.

EBCDIC Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code. An 8-bit code developed by IBM. See also ASCII

EBP Electronic Bill Presentment

E-business (Electronic business) Conducting business using computers, the Internet and World Wide Web technology instead of paper and post.

ECM Enterprise Content Management. The management of all types of content, including business documents, Web-based content, electronic transactions, e-mails, document images, and rich media across an organisation.

ECMS Enterprise Content Management System. A system providing a set of document and content services that address a wide range of different content types–see ECM

E-commerce (Electronic commerce) Conducting business using computers, telephones, fax, the Internet, etc., instead of using paper and mail.

EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) Automatic exchange of information between computer systems. Examples include automatic placing of orders with suppliers as a result of a single supermarket purchase which takes total stock below a pre-set level.

EDMS Electronic Document Management System. Also Engineering Document Management System.

EDRM Electronic Document and Records Management.

EDRMS Electronic Document and Records Management System.

EIR Environmental Information Regulations. Provide rights of access to environmental information held by public authorities.

Electronic Document Management System System that manages the content of electronic documents and provides facilities for version control and access control. Also referred to as Document Management Systems and Electronic content management systems

E-mail (electronic mail) A system for passing messages between computer users who are linked by a network.

Enterprise 2.0 The use of Web 2.0 technologies within an enterprise. See Web 2.0.

Enterprise Information Portal See Portal

EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) A file format commonly used by computer applications having graphics capability. PostScript enables images to be accurately displayed and scaled for printing or inclusion in other application programs without disturbing the file’s native attributes.

Erasable disk Any type of data storage disk on which data can be erased and new data written in its place. Usually taken to mean an optical disk that is rewritable.

ERM (i) Electronic Records Management (ii) Enterprise Report Management (COLD).

ERMS Electronic Records Management System.

ERP Enterprise Resource Planning.

Ethernet Local area network using bus topology. Designed by Xerox and now widely used.

Extranet A website restricted to select users outside an organisation.

F

Fabric The hardware that connects workstations and servers to storage devices in a storage area network.

Facsimile See Fax.

Fax The technology used to scan, compress and transmit pages across a telephone line to be decompressed, printed out or stored at the other end. Group III fax is an analogue system. Group IV is digital. The fax compression algorithms are used in most DIP systems.

Fax server A network server with fax boards to allow all network users to export files as faxes and to receive faxes directly.

FC Fibre Channel. A serial data transfer architecture developed by a consortium of computer and mass storage device manufacturers and now being standardised by ANSI.

Fiche See Microfiche

Field The smallest logical unit of data in a database record, i.e. fields in an index record.

File All the data comprising a document or part of a document (page image) held under a single naming code.

Fileplan A Business classification scheme completed to lowest levels with the addition of folders..

File Transfer Protocol See FTP

Firewall A combination of hardware and software that separates a LAN into two or more parts for security purposes.

FOIA Freedom of Information Act. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives a general right of public access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities, sets out exemptions from that general right, and places a number of obligations on public authorities. The Act applies only to public authorities and not to private entities. The Act is enforced by the Information Commissioner who oversees both Freedom of Information and Data Protection legislation. The Act applies only to England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

FOISA Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act.

Folder A common unit used in a hierarchical storage system. Documents are stored in folders which are stored in cabinets, etc.

Forms processing Software that automates the process of scanning paper forms, applying recognition technology to recognise the form, extracting data from the form, validating, correcting and exporting the data to a business application.

Fractal compression A means of compressing image data files, especially colour. Offers potential for very high compression ratios, e.g. 1000:1.

FTP File Transfer Protocol. Mechanism for transferring data files over the Internet.

FTR Full Text Retrieval. An indexing and searching system whereby documents are indexed automatically by all the significant words they contain. Searches may be made for documents containing specific words or combinations of words.

FTS Full Text Search. See FTR

G

GCat See Catalist.

GIF CompuServe’s Graphics Interchange Format. A file format that allows high-quality, high-resolution graphics to be displayed on a variety of graphics hardware and is intended as an exchange and display mechanism for graphics images.

Gigabyte (GB) One thousand megabytes.

Gopher An Internet tool used to search for files, graphics and more, using on screen menus.

Graphic COM recorder A computer output microfilmer capable of producing both text and graphics.

Graphical User Interface See GUI

Graphics Pictures and drawings created by computer or scanned into the computer. Includes vector graphics and raster graphics.

Greyscale Simplest form of scanned raster data. All scanner data, including binary data, starts as greyscale. Greyscale images have a number which describes how light or dark each pixel is. It is used for representing continuous tone images such as photographs.

Greyscale range The range is determined by how sensitive the scanner is to light or dark. The greater the range the more gradations of greyscale. 8 bits of data per pixel allows 256 different levels of grey. 4 bits per pixel allows 16 levels.

Group III/IV Prevalent compression techniques for raster images developed by CCITT for fax. Group III typically provides compression ratios of 5-20:1. Group IV typically provides ratios of 15-30:1 for textual documents. The real figures depend on the original document.

Groupware Software which builds on LAN’s, e-mail and database software to support collaborative working and the sharing of documents and other information in workgroups. Document management and shared document databases are an important part of most groupware software application packages.

GSM Global System for Mobile communication

GUI Graphical User Interface. Enables computer users to select applications and functions by selecting on-screen picture buttons (icons) using a mouse or similar pointing device, e.g. MS-Windows for MS-DOS, Presentation Manager for OS/2.

H

Halftone An image in which shades of grey are simulated by black dots of different sizes. The screening process used to produce half tone images.

Handprint Character Recognition See HCR

Handwriting recognition The conversion of handwriting into machine-readable text.

Hard disk Usually means a magnetic disk drive.

HCR Handprint Character Recognition. Type of optical character recognition for converting images of handprinted characters into coded form, e.g. ASCII, WP format.

Hierarchical Storage Management See HSM

HSM Hierarchical Storage Management. Management system whereby data which becomes less active is migrated from expensive hard disks to lower cost mass storage alternatives.

HTML HyperText Markup Language. The format of most files published on the World Wide Web. HTML is an application of SGML.

HTTP HyperText Transfer Protocol. The protocol for moving hypertext files across the Internet. Requires a HTTP client program on one end, and an HTTP server program on the other end. HTTP is the most important protocol used in the World Wide Web (www).

Hybrid Term used to describe document management systems which make use of both digital and analogue technology, i.e. paper, film and digital storage.

Hyperlink A link from one document to another, or to any resource, or within a document.

Hypertext Any text that can be chosen by a reader and which causes another document to be retrieved and displayed.

HyperText Markup Language See HTML

I

ICR Intelligent Character Recognition. Recognition processes in which a document image (bit-map) is converted to coded text, e.g. ASCII, word processing format. Involves advanced techniques such as feature analysis and artificial intelligence. Able to recognise a wider range of type styles and sizes that Optical Character Recognition. See also OCR

IGES Initial Graphics Exchange Specification. The IGES standard for engineering, product design and manufacturing drawings is one of the CALS standard graphics formats.

IIS Microsoft’s Internet Information Server

ILM Information Lifecycle Management. The practice of applying records management policies to the effective management of information throughout its useful life. ILM is also used by the IT industry to denote the use of storage devices to manage information more cost-effectively over time according to its usage.

IM (i) Information Management, (ii) Instant Messaging—a method of real-time communication between people using typed text.

Image enhancement The use of image processing techniques to improve the quality of an electronic image.

Image processing The manipulation of digital images after they have been scanned and digitised. Includes rotation, zoom, enhancement, analysis, etc.

Image resolution Measure of image quality. Defined as dots per inch (dpi) e.g. 200dpi..

Image The digital representation in a computer system of a picture or graphic.

Imaging The process of capturing, storing and retrieving information, regardless of its original format, using micrographics and/or scanning and optical disk technologies.

IM@T.Online Cimtech’s online journal Information Management & Technology.

Index Descriptive data that enables desired information to be retrieved. Image data in DIP has no inherent meaning (unless OCR is applied) and hence all stored images must be indexed for subsequent retrieval. Index information is usually entered by filling in an on-screen form. On some systems OCR/ICR or barcode recognition may be used to automate the task by reading specified segments of the document, e.g. customer number.

Information lifecycle management See ILM

Information Management & Technology See IM@T.Online.

Integrated Services Digital Network See ISDN

Intelligent Character Recognition See ICR

International Organisation for Standardisation See ISO

International Telecommunication Union (ITU) An intergovernmental organisation through which public and private organisations develop telecommunications (www.itu.int). The ITU standards activity was formerly known as CCITT.

Internet A network of computer systems started from a requirement by the US defence industry to link together their many computers. The Internet is not so much a network of computers but a network of networks. There has been a huge explosion of interest in the Internet during the last two years from both business and home users.

Intranet Essentially a private Internet. It makes use of the same technology as the Internet but is used to establish a network that is private to a company or organisation. It resides behind a ‘firewall’ and cannot be accessed by people outside.

IPSV Integrated Public Sector Vocbulary. An encoding scheme for keywords in the e-GMS Subject element of metadata.

iSCSI Internet SCSI. An IP based standard for linking data storage devices over a network and transferring data by carrying SCSI commands over IP networks.

ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network. A digital data communications service which can operate over any telephone linked to a digital exchange. ISDN offers much higher transmission speeds than conventional analogue modems and the call costs are much lower. Typical data rate is 128K baud and calls cost the same as ordinary telephone calls.

ISO International Organisation for Standardisation. A United Nations organisation which publishes standards (www.iso.org). See also AFNOR, ANSI, BSI, DIN

ISO 2788 Guidelines for monolingual thesauri.

ISO 14721 A reference model for an open archival information system (OAIS).

ISO 15489 (PD ISO/TR 15489-2:2001) Information and documentation. Records management. Guidelines. Also BS ISO 15489-1:2001 to be read in conjunction with above.

ISO 23081 Two-part standard for metadata, released in 2006 and 2007.

ISO 27000 A series of international information security management standards incorporating ISO 17799.

ITT Invitation To Tender

ITU See International Telecommunication Union

IPSV Integrated Public Sector Vocbulary. An encoding scheme for keywords in the e-GMS Subject element of metadata.

iSCSI Internet SCSI. An IP based standard for linking data storage devices over a network and transferring data by carrying SCSI commands over IP networks.

ISO International Organisation for Standardisation. A United Nations organisation which publishes standards (www.iso.org). See also AFNOR, ANSI, BSI, DIN

ISO 2788 Guidelines for monolingual thesauri.

ISO 14721 A reference model for an open archival information system (OAIS).

ISO 15489 (PD ISO/TR 15489-2:2001) Information and documentation. Records management. Guidelines. Also BS ISO 15489-1:2001 to be read in conjunction with above.

ISO 27000 A series of international information security management standards incorporating ISO 17799.

ITT Invitation To Tender

ITU See International Telecommunication Union

J

J2EE Java 2 Enterprise Edition—a Java development environment from Sun Microsystems incorporating applications, a suite of tools and services for developing, building and deploying web-based enterprise applications online.

Jacket (microfilm) Unitised microform comprising two layers of clear, flexible plastic bonded or welded together to form channels into which strips of 16mm or 35mm film can be inserted. Commonly used in applications where there is a need to update files periodically. Microfilm jackets are most commonly A6 size. Sometimes incorrectly referred to as microfiche.

Java A network-oriented programming language invented by Sun Microsystems that is specifically designed for writing programs that can be safely downloaded to your computer through the Internet and immediately run without fear of viruses or other harm to your computer or files. Using small Java programs—Applets—web pages can include functions such as animations, calculators, and other features.

JBIG Joint Bi-level Image Group. A new international standard compression algorithm for black and white and halftone image information. A lossless compression algorithm designed to offer compression improvements of up to 180 per cent over CCITT Group 3 and 4.

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) Grouping associated with ITU and ISO which has defined a compression-decompression standard for colour and greyscale image applications. See also MPEG

JPEG2000 An image coding system developed by JPEG that uses state-of-the-art compression techniques based on wavelet technology. It is particularly focused on providing improved quality, performance and error resilience for highly compressed images in low bandwidth and noisy transmission environments.

Jukebox A machine which allows a large number of optical disks to be held near-line. It consists of disk racks with space for one or more disk drives and one or more robotic pick-and-place mechanisms. The robotic mechanism retrieves the specified disk from the rack, loads it, correctly oriented, into a disk drive, and/or returns the last disk read to the storage rack position.

K

K Abbreviation of Kilo.

Key Unique identifiers such as ID numbers, file references, etc. logically associated with an image document and used as index information.

Keyword A significant word in a document that helps to define the content of the document.

Keyword AAA A records management thesaurus of general terms to provide control over the vocabulary used for titling and indexing records.

Kilo One thousand units

Kilobyte (KB) One thousand bytes.

KM see Knowledge Management

Knowledge Management Organisational processes that seek synergistic combination of the data and information processing capacity of information technologies with the creative and innovative capacity of human beings (Yogesh Malhotra). A subdivision of document/content management primarily concerned with facilitating access to the knowledge/information held in documents. Places accent on portals, full text retrieval and auto classification to aid subject searching.

L

LAN Local Area Network. A network of connected devices, typically within a small area such as an office or building, supporting high-speed transmission of data over twisted pair, coaxial cable or fibre optic cable.

LCD Liquid Crystal Display. A display in which a layer of liquid crystals is held between two flat panels. Electronic signals change the structure of the crystals from transparent to opaque and back lighting (or reflected light) makes the image visible. See also LED

LDAP Lightweight Directory Access Protocol. A set of protocols for accessing use and information directories.

LED Light Emitting Diode. A display in which an electric current causes a semi-conductor circuit to generate light. No longer popular in portable equipment because of high power usage in comparison with LCD. See also LCD

LGCS Local Government Classification Scheme. A functional classification scheme (fileplan) from the Records Management Society of Great Britain designed to meet the needs of local government.

Library unit See Jukebox

Light Emitting Diode See LED

Linux A version of UNIX that has gained popularity because of its stability as an operating system for hosting web servers. Linux is open source software and is freely available over the Internet.

Liquid Crystal Display See LC

Local Area Network See LAN

Lossless Compression techniques that operate without the loss of data.

Lossy Compression techniques that can involve the loss of data.

LZW Lempel Ziv Welch. A lossless data compression algorithm for greyscale in particular.

M

Magnetic Ink Character Recognition. See MICR

Magneto Optical See MO

Mainframe Class of large, general-purpose computer forming the central part of a data processing system.

MAPI Messaging Application Programming Interface. A system built into Microsoft Windows that enables different e-mail programs to interface to distribute e-mail. When both programs are MAPI-enabled, they can share messages.

MB Megabyte. Approximately 1 million bytes.

MCR Machine-print Character Recognition.

Mean Time Between Failure See MTBF

Mega 1 million units.

Megabyte See MB

Metadata Data associated with documents to provide information on their contents, context and use.

MICR Magnetic Ink Character Recognition. A technique for the automatic recognition of stylised characters printed with a magnetic ink.

Microfiche Sheet of microfilm containing an array of micro-images arranged in accordance with a standard grid, e.g. 7 rows and 14 columns, and usually including an eye-legible title along the top edge. Commonly A6 in size. Frequently used in micropublishing applications.

Microfilm camera Camera used for microfilming documents. See also Camera-processor, Planetary camera, Rotary camera, Step-and-repeat camera

Microfilm High-resolution photographic film suitable for recording micro-images of documents. Often used to refer to microfilm in roll format, e.g. 16mm microfilm.

Microform General term for any film (or paper) format containing micro-images.

Micrographics Generic term given to the recording of information onto microfilm and the retrieval of information from microfilm.

MO Magneto Optical. A rewritable optical disk technology. It stores data as a magnetic pattern which can be changed by a combination of a magnetic field and the heat generated locally by a laser beam. Reading is by detecting the direction of rotation of the reflected polarised laser beam from the magnetised spot.

Modem Contraction of Modulator/Demodulator. Electronic equipment which changes digital computer data to analogue data (and vice versa) for transmission/reception over telephone lines. See also ISDN

Monitor See Display

MoReq Specification Model Requirements for the management of electronic records. The MoReq specification describes model requirements for the management of electronic records. It focuses mainly on the functional requirements for the management of electronic records by an electronic records management system (ERMS). Superseded by MoReq2.

MOSS Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server.

MPEG Motion Picture Experts Group. Grouping associated with ISO who have defined the MPEG compression/decompression standard for motion video images. See also JPEG

N

NAS Network Attached Storage. A disk array storage system that is set up with its own TCP/IP network address rather than being attached to the department computer that is serving applications to a network’s workstation users. By removing storage access and its management from the department server, both application programming and files can be served faster because they are not competing for the same processor resources.

NDAD National Digital Archive of Datasets. A service of the National Archives.

Near-line Storage classification enabling users relatively fast access to information, e.g. information stored on a disk within a jukebox under control of the program.

Negative An image in which the tones of the original appear reversed. Most first generation microfilm has a negative appearing image. Electronic images can easily be switched between negative and positive.

Network Communications link between computers and peripherals. See LAN, WAN

O

OAIS Open Archive Information System. Standards for digital archiving.

Object Oriented Programme See OOP

OCR Optical Character Recognition. Technique for analysing images and recognising and translating the alphanumeric characters into machine-readable text. See also ICR

ODA Open Document Architecture. Open Document Architecture and ODIF (Open Document Interchange Format) are standards to facilitate the storage and interchange of documents in formatted/processable and formatted processable formats.

ODBC Open Database Connectivity standard for linking client workstation with server database.

Off-line Storage classification that requires users to perform a manual action to access information. Thus information stored on a magnetic tape or disk not directly accessible by a computer is considered to be off-line.

Office Open XML (OOXML) A Microsoft-developed format for office documents based on XML. An alternative to PDF/A and OpenDocument formats for long-term preservation.

OJEC Official Journal of the European Communities. See OJEU

OJEU Official Journal of the European Union. Tendering process required by EC Directives for public sector procurement where the value exceeds an annually updated threshold. The process starts with a notice in the OJEU (previously OJEC). OJEU is now online via the Tenders Electronic Daily (TED) database. See also Catalist as alternatives to OJEU for public sector procurement.

OLE Object Linking and Embedding. A Microsoft standard for processing compound documents.

OMR Optical Mark Reading. A recognition technology for detecting the presence or absence of marks in a defined space, e.g. ticks or crosses in boxes, etc.

Online Storage classification for storage directly accessible by program, without manual intervention. Thus information stored on a hard disk is considered to be online.

OOP Object Oriented Program. Application in which data and the means to process it are stored together. The combination of data and processes creates an object. Fully defined objects can be linked together to form applications without further programming.

Open Doc Rival to OLE supported by Apple and IBM.

OpenDocument An open standard format for office documents based on XML. An alternative to PDF/A and OOXML for long-term preservation.

Open Document Architecture See ODA

Open Source A program in which the source code is available to the general public for use and/or modification from its original design free of charge.

Open Systems Interconnect See OSI

Optical Character Recognition See OCR

Optical disk A disk coated with a recording medium on which binary information is recorded and read using a laser. Abbreviated as OD. See also Erasable disk, WORM

OSI Open Systems Interconnect. Set of interface standards promoted by ISO and aimed at allowing the exchange of information between computers, networks and applications.

Output device Device by which a computer presents data in human readable form, e.g. displays, printers, COM recorders, etc.

P

pages per minute See ppm

Pattern matching A technique used by OCR software.

PC Personal Computer. Desktop microcomputer for individual use.

PCX Picture Exchange format. File format used by many painting packages including PC Paintbrush.

PD0008 see BIP 0008:2004.

PD0009 see BIP 0009:2004.

PD0010 (full name BSI DISC PD0010:1997) Principles of good practice for information management.

PDA Personal Digital Assistant

PDF Portable Document Format. The platform-independent document format used by Adobe’s Acrobat universal distribution viewer.

PDF/A PDF Archive format for the long-term preservation of documents.

PDM Product Data Management.

Pel Contraction of Picture Element. See Pixel

Petabyte (PB) One thousand terabytes.

Personal computer See PC.

Pixel Abbreviation of Picture Element. The smallest element (or dot) on a display. The closer the spacing of the pixels, the higher the resolution and the sharper the image.

PKI Public Key Infrastructure—a system of digital certificates that verify and authenticate the validity of each party involved in an Internet transaction.

Planetary camera Type of microfilm camera on which the document is placed on a fixed copyboard and microfilmed using a camera head supported above (usually) the copyboard. The document and the film remain statuary during the exposure. See also Rotary camera

Plotter A particular form of printer for output of graphical information, e.g. artwork, drawings, maps, graphs.

PNG Portable Network Graphics. An extensible file format for the lossless, portable, well-compressed storage of raster images. PNG provides a patent-free replacement for GIF and can also replace many common uses of TIFF. Indexed-color, grayscale, and truecolor images are supported, plus an optional alpha channel. Sample depths range from 1 to 16 bits.

Portable Document Format. See PDF

Portal Literally a gateway. Used to mean intelligent browser software that allows users to personalise their search engine, to define websites and document libraries and subject interest profile so that they are alterted when new documents that meet their subject interest profiles are added to those sites/libraries. Provides unified access to internal document repositories and third party websites. Can be divided into personal, workgroup, corporate and enterprise portals.

PostScript A page description computer programming language from Adobe Systems that allows the creation, viewing and printing of digital graphics and type.

ppm pages per minute. Commonly used measure for the output speed of printers and input speed of scanners.

Print server A computer on a network devoted to accepting and storing print data and routing it to one or more printers.

Printer An output device for producing a hard copy of textual or graphic information. Several types of printer are available for image handling e.g. laser, LED, liquid crystal, thermal transfer, ink jet.

PRO See The National Archives.

PRO Functional Requirements for ERMS A set of requirements published by the PRO (now The National Archives) to promote the development of the ERM software market. The first set of requirements was published in 1999 and these were superseded by the second set published in 2002. The PRO conducted a testing and evaluation programme (now completed) and approved ERM systems that met the functional requirements.

Processor (microfilm) Automatic machine for processing exposed microfilm.

PRONOM A resource developed by the National Archives to register data file formats and supporting software products.

Proximity searching In a full/free text retrieval system the ability to locate a word or item within a specified proximity of another word or item.

R

RAID Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks. A bank of hard disks which is usually an extension to a computer system. Data is organised on the disks such that the failure of any single disk does not cause a total loss of data. This enables the system to continue in use while the faulty disk is replaced.

Ranking Text searching technique which ranks (orders) located reference in order of compliance with search criteria.

Raster graphics The technique of displaying an image as a series of points in a column and row grid format. Each point is called a pixel and has a value which describes the point in terms of its colour and intensity. The outputs from fax machines, scanners and television cameras are all raster images. See also Bit map, Image

RDBMS Relational DataBase Management System. A database system in which information is stored in separate tables which can then be related, e.g. a client name and address would be stored once and other files would store a ‘relationship’, such as a client number, in order to retrieve the related information.

Reader-printer A type of microfilm reader equipped with a printing capability able to produce a paper copy of the image displayed on the viewing screen.

Record Any piece of information created or received and maintained by an organisation or person in the course of their business or conduct of affairs and kept as evidence of such activity.

Record retention schedule A schedule that details the categories of records an organisation is required to store. It outlines the length of time different categories of records should be stored, and when they can be deleted.

Records Management The function of managing records to meet organisational needs, business efficiency and legal and financial accountability.

Redaction The blanking out of a part of a document or record. A copy of a record on which some information has been blanked.

Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks See RAID

Resolution (i) In electronic imaging it defines the clarity and information content of a bit-map. Often measured in dots per inch (dpi) and commonly used as part of the specification of printers, scanners and computer displays. (ii) In micrographics it is a measure of a photographic system’s ability to resolve fine detail. Measurements are made with the aid of a resolution test chart. Unit = line pairs per millimetre.

Rewritable A disk that is capable of being rewritten. This term is normally associated with optical disks which may also be Read Only or Write Once Read Many (WORM). Disks may be single or double sided. See also Erasable disk

RIM Records and Information Management.

Rotary camera A type of microfilm camera in which the document is transported round a roller and imaged as it passes through the camera. The film is moved during exposure in synchronisation with the movement of the document.

RTF Rich Text Format.

S

SaaS Software as a Service. The delivery of software over the Internet from external suppliers on a pay-per-use model.

SAN Storage Area Network. Similar to NAS but connected to TCP/IP networks using fibre channel and a SCSI interface.

Scanner A device for converting analogue documents, e.g. paper or film, into digital form for entry into a computer. Most scanners use one or more linear CCD arrays in conjunction with a lens/mirror optical system to capture each document as a series of closely spaced lines. Special scanners are available to capture large format documents, typically up to A0 size, transparent originals such as microforms, and bound material such as books.

S-Cat See Catalist.

SCSI Small computer system interface A parallel interface standard for attaching peripheral devices to a computer. SCSI interfaces provide for faster data transmission rates than standard serial and parallel ports.

Server A computer dedicated to serving other computers. Common server applications are the central storage of files which are in shared usage and control of system peripherals such as printers which are shared by a group of users.

Service bureau A company specialising in the provision of micrographic or electronic imaging services under contract.

SGML Standard Generalised Mark-up Language. An internationally recognised (ISO 8879) encoding system used to describe the content and organisation of an electronic document independently of computer platforms and applications.

SLA Service Level Agreement.

SME Small to Medium size Enterprise.

SMS Short Message Service. A system for sending text messages from one mobile phone to another.

SOAP Simple Object Access Protocol. Protocol using XML over http to enable applications to communicate with each other via the Internet.

Software as a Service See SaaS.

SQL Structured Query Language. A method of searching and retrieving information from database systems. Initially defined by ANSI with the objective of creating a common means of accessing data from different databases and of transferring data between databases.

SSL Secure Sockets Layer. A protocol for transmitting private documents via the Internet.

Step-and-repeat camera. A type of planetary microfilm camera for producing microfiche. The film is moved (stepped) between exposures to place the document images in rows and columns.

Systems integrators In the context of content management, companies which supply third-party products and provide services for their implementation, integration and support.

T

Taxonomy A collection of controlled vocabulary terms organised into a hierarchical structure. Similar to thesaurus.

TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. Widely used set of protocols developed by the US Department of Defense to link different computers across networks. Used in the Internet superhighway.

Terabyte (TB) One thousand gigabytes.

Text/image retrieval A facility that allows full/free text retrieval techniques to locate and retrieve document images.

The National Archives The National Archives (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) looks after state and central court documents from the Domesday Book to the present, making them available at its reading rooms in Kew and at the Family Records Centre in central London for anyone who wishes to see them. The National Archives also provides access to certain documents online. The National Archives works with central government to help select documents now, which will be opened to the public in 30 years’ time and also provides advice for central government record officers, certain archives and, increasingly, for local government to ensure these records are looked after in a way which will guarantee their preservation for future generations. The National Archives is leading in the area of digital preservation and is a renowned expert in conservation. (The National Achives was formed in April 2003 by the joining of the Public Record Office (PRO) and the Historical Monuments Commission (HMC).

Thesaurus A controlled vocabulary of terms used to aid document indexing and searching.

Thresholding Image processing technique which defines whether a scanned pixel should be considered black or white. Commonly used to drop out background colours in order to clarify the textual content or line work of a document.

TIFF Tagged Image File Format. A tag-based file format that is designed to promote the interchange of digital image data. The tag (or header) would typically hold information such as the size of a document and the resolution at which it was captured. Used for fax and scanned images.

Tiling Reproducing large format documents, e.g. drawings, maps, etc., by breaking the image into parts or tiles.

TNA See The National Archives

Transaction processing Workflow type application aimed at the processing of transaction type documents, i.e. cheques and application forms.

Transfer rate The rate at which data is transferred to and from a device. Normally expressed in bits/second rather than bytes/second e.g. kilobits or megabits per second.

U

UDO Ultra Density Optical. The 30GB standard for professional optical storage. Based on high density, blue laser technology, UDO is the next generation to 5.25 inch MO (Magneto Optical) storage.

Uniform Resource Locator see URL

UNIX Uniplexed Information Computing Service. An operating system widely used in computers employing RISC technology. Has much greater functionality than DOS from a system viewpoint and supports open system objectives on medium and large system servers.

URL Uniform Resource Locator. Short strings that identify resources in the Web, e.g. documents, images, downloadable files, services, electronic mailboxes, and other resources. They make resources available under a variety of naming schemes and access methods, such as http, ftp and Internet mail, addressable in the same simple way.

V

VAR Value Added Re-seller. Re-sells systems with added software value.

Vector graphics The technique of manipulating or displaying an image whereby each line, object and shape is described by a formula from which it can be reconstructed. Vector graphics are preferred for Computer Aided Design (CAD) systems.

Vesicular film A heat-processed photographic film used for microfilm duplication. Requires exposure to ultra-violet light and produces an image of the opposite polarity to the original.

Virtualisation Storage virtualisation is the sharing of physical storage from multiple network storage devices into what appears to be a single storage device that is managed from a central console. Storage virtualisation is commonly used in a storage area network (SAN).

W

W3C World Wide Web Consortium. A forum for information and the development of specifications for the web (www.w3.org).

WAI Web Accessibility Initiative. W3C initiative to develop strategies, guidelines and resources to help make the Web accessible to people with disabilities.

WAN Wide Area Network. A means of connecting computer systems (normally by telephone links) where distance considerations preclude the possibility of a direct LAN connection. Frequently a cause of bottlenecks because of the limited speed of the links and the rental cost of the lines. See also ISDN.

WAP Wireless Application Protocol. A set of specifications for developing web-like applications that run over wireless networks.

WCM see Web Content Management

Web 2.0 An imprecise term used to cover the use of the Web for interactive and collaborative purposes such as social networking, wikis and blogs.

Web Content Management The management of content that is destined to be published on a website.

WebDAV Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning. Protocol extension to HTTP for the management of documents over the Web.

Web services A standard way of integrating web-based applications using XML, SOAP and other open standards over an Internet connection.

WFM Workflow Management. A system that concentrates on automating and controlling the flow of work and often controls the routing of documents.

WfMC Workflow Management Coalition. An open group of companies whose purpose is to create specifications in the area of workflow management technology and promote the understanding of workflow (www.wfmc.org).

Wiki A website editable by any user for the purposes of collaboration and collective authoring.

Wildcard Non-specific searching term primarily used in text or text field searching as a substitute for characters or words.

WML Wireless Markup Language

Workflow The process of organising business processes as a controlled sequence of activities.

Workflow Management Coalition. See WfMC

WORM disk A random access digital mass storage device. Its main characteristics are: high storage capacity, recordability, security of information (data cannot be erased or modified), durability and removability (it can be stored off-line). At present the most common disk size for WORM is 5.25in. Disks may be single- or double-sided.

World Wide Web Term used to describe the hypertext system devised to publish and link documents on the Internet. Comprises web server software, HTML, browser software and HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol).

WORM Write-Once-Read-Many. Characteristic of digital storage medium on which data can be recorded once and read many times. The written data cannot subsequently be modified.

WYSIWYG What You See Is What You Get. An attribute of software applications such as word processing and desktop publishing implying that the image seen on the display will be accurately replicated when it is printed.

WWW See World Wide Web

X

X/OPEN An association of computer and system suppliers formed with the objective of promoting standards to enable systems to communicate with each other.

XML (eXtensible Markup Language) A restricted form of SGML designed (under the auspices of the World Wide Web Consortium – W3C) to enable generic SGML to be served, received, and processed on the Web in the way that is now possible with HTML. XML has been designed for ease of implementation and for interoperability with both SGML and HTML.

Z

Zoom To enlarge a portion of an image to view it more clearly.