Data Dictionary Standards

Prepared by the Stony Brook Data Governance Council, June 8, 2017
Approved Nov. 9, 2017, updated March 28, 2018
For the PDF version of data dictionary standards, please click here.

Following a guidance from the International Standards Organization (ISO) that effective use of data requires a shared “common understanding of the meaning and descriptive characteristics of that data” (2004), the Stony Brook University Data Governance Council (DGC) has set standards for data dictionaries. A data dictionary is a compendium of data definitions for multiple data elements that exist in a data store. For systems providing data, data dictionaries must be maintained to guide data users in the meaning and proper usage of data.

Principles

1. Data dictionaries are designed to promote communication and production of meaning; as such dictionaries document the existence, meaning, and use of data elements
2. Data dictionaries must be accessible to all users who enter and extract data from a data store
3. Data stewards must actively maintain data dictionary contents, including definitions, values, and other metadata
4. Data caretakers and users are responsible for actively using data dictionaries to correctly enter, select, and analyze data elements
5. Data dictionaries should be reviewed on a regular schedule to ensure currency

Required Elements 

Dictionaries must include the following required elements:

DICTIONARY ELEMENT	DESCRIPTION	EXAMPLES
DICTIONARY ELEMENT Data Store	DESCRIPTION The name of the database	EXAMPLES PeopleSoft - csprod
DICTIONARY ELEMENT Table name	DESCRIPTION The name of the table housing the element	EXAMPLES PS_STDNT_CAR_TERM
DICTIONARY ELEMENT Data element	DESCRIPTION The alphanumeric sequence used to identify the field.	EXAMPLES CUM_GPA ACAD_CAREER
DICTIONARY ELEMENT Data element name	DESCRIPTION The name of the field or term in English. No abbreviations or acronyms allowed.	EXAMPLES Cumulative Grade Point Average Academic Career
DICTIONARY ELEMENT Definition	DESCRIPTION A long description of what the field means, a verbal explanation of how it is calculated, how it should be used, and how it should not be used. The definition should not simply re-state the name of the data element.	EXAMPLES Computed by the Consolidate Academic Statistics process (SRPCCONS). Total grade points divided by total units. If the student is active in multiple programs and careers with different grading bases (for example, 100-point scale and4-point scale), then the program logic reports only the student's primary career and program GPA. See the logic description for the OVRD_CUM_GPA field. (from PeopleBook 9.0) Academic career is a concept used in Campus Solutions to designate all course work undertaken by astudent at an academic institution; you group this course work in a single student record. For example, a university that has an undergraduate school, a graduate school, and several professional schools can define an undergraduate career, graduate career, and a separate career for each professional school (for example, law, medical or dental).You might also make extended education or continuing education its own academic career, or make separate academic careers for every school or college at the undergraduate level. (from PeopleBook 9.0)
DICTIONARY ELEMENT Source and Data Logic	DESCRIPTION Source system, table, and field(s) and data logic, including equations, if applicable. List all sources if multiple sources are used to populate	EXAMPLES PS_STDNT_CAR_TERM (see definition for data logic)
DICTIONARY ELEMENT Data Type and Length	DESCRIPTION Numeric, Character; length and decimal format, if appropriate	EXAMPLES Numeric (x.xxx) Character (5)
DICTIONARY ELEMENT Allowable Values/ Parameters	DESCRIPTION Provides a description of what data may be entered into a field. For numeric fields, this would be minimum and maximum values. For character fields, list allowable values and labels if fewer than 10 or provide name of set- up or dimension table in which values and labels are stored	EXAMPLES CUM_GPA    range 0 – 4.0 ACAD_CAREER   UGRD = Undergraduate   GRAD = Graduate   DEN   = Dental   MEDS  = Medical   PHARM = Pharmacy
DICTIONARY ELEMENT Semantic Rules	DESCRIPTION Explain any patterns and meaning that may be encoded in the code	EXAMPLES Term is arranged by century-year- term. 1st character is the century, 2nd & 3rd characters are year, 4th character is a 1, 4, 6 or 8 for winter, spring, summer, or fall terms.
DICTIONARY ELEMENT Data steward	DESCRIPTION Identifies the office of the steward(s) responsible for the data. May indicate groups of individuals if steward is unit dependent, e.g. the Steward for an employee address field would differ from the Steward for a student address field	EXAMPLES Registrar’s Office
DICTIONARY ELEMENT Date created	DESCRIPTION Lists the date the dictionary entry was created	EXAMPLES mm/dd/yyyy
DICTIONARY ELEMENT Data updated	DESCRIPTION Lists the date the dictionary entry was modified. Leave null for newly created entries	EXAMPLES mm/dd/yyyy

Recommended or optional elements

DICTIONARY ELEMENT	DESCRIPTION	EXAMPLES
DICTIONARY ELEMENT Alias names	DESCRIPTION Lists common terms substituted for the data element	EXAMPLES GPA   Student Level       Type
DICTIONARY ELEMENT Data sensitivity classification	DESCRIPTION Lists security and access controls per University policy 302: Sensitive Information Classification Policy	EXAMPLES High             Moderate       Low
DICTIONARY ELEMENT Usage	DESCRIPTION Describes typical usage or reports where the data element frequently appears	EXAMPLES
DICTIONARY ELEMENT Notes	DESCRIPTION	EXAMPLES