Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
APPROACHES TO CAPTURING INFORMATION FOR THE DATA DICTIONARY
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Ghostwriter
It may be necessary to create a draft of the business name and description. This
may be done by a newer member in the business group or by someone from IT.
Appropriate business people must validate this draft. It may be easier for the
subject matter experts to critique something, rather than write it from scratch.
Be careful to have realistic expectations about how quickly this will be
done. This type of documentation is often just one more thing that these key
individuals are being asked to do. Their participation is often provided on
their own time, after their other immediate work is completed. Encourage and
reward their participation. One big benefit to these key people is that once this
is documented, fewer people will need to ask basic questions about the data.
The data dictionary can be consulted first, and only more advanced questions
will require the involvement of a subject matter expert.
Accessing the Data Dictionary
After you have good content in the data dictionary, the real value can be
realized. This happens when the data dictionary is made available to the
business and IT communities. The data dictionary can assist business people
who are trying to understand a report, or application developers who need to
know about the content of a table in the database.
Thedatadictionaryshouldbepublishedinasimpleformat.Abasicsearch
interface can be developed and the contents can be available through the
company's intranet. The interface should be simple, with options to constrain
what you are looking for, and be interactive with the data dictionary database.
Take advantage of how other content is published across the organization. Use
these existing applications as a starting point and go from there.
Maintaining the Data Dictionary
Often, a big initiative is set up to create and populate the data dictionary. This
is well publicized and supported at multiple levels of management. However,
implementing a data dictionary is a long-term commitment, not a one-shot
effort. After the data elements from the first data source have been documented
and loaded into the data dictionary, the work does not stop. Additional data
sources and additional types of information can be added to the dictionary
