Glossary of Terms

Glossary of Terms

Short Name	API
Long Name	Application Programming Interface
URL	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_programming_interface
Definition	An application programming interface (API) is a specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other. An API may include specifications for routines, data structures, object classes, and variables. An API specification can take many forms, including an International Standard such as POSIX or vendor documentation such as the Microsoft Windows API, or the libraries of a programming language, e.g. Standard Template Library in C++ or Java API.

Short Name	DPI
Long Name	Dots Per Inch
URL	http://www.andrewdaceyphotography.com/articles/dpi/
Definition	Used to express the number of ink dots applied to a single inch during printing, the function of individual printer specifications. Often wrongly used as a synynom for PPI (pixels per inch), which see in this glossary.

Short Name	Geo-referencing
Long Name	Geo-referencing
URL	Georeferencing
Definition	The process of assigning geographical coordinates (latitude, longitude, datum, projection, precision) to a biological specimen collection record or event using geospatial data available from the specimen label.

Short Name	GUID
Long Name	Globally Unique Identifier
URL	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globally_unique_identifier
Definition	A unique reference number used as an identifier in computer software. The term GUID also is used for Microsoft's implementation of the Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) standard. The value of a GUID is represented as a 32-character hexadecimal string, such as {21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}, and is usually stored as a 128-bit integer. The total number of unique keys is 2 to the 128th power, or 3.4x10 to the 38th power. This number is so large that the probability of the same number being generated randomly twice is negligible.

Short Name	Image Resolution
Long Name	Image Resolution
URL	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_resolution
Definition	A measure of the detail in an image, especially a raster digital image. The higher resolution the more detail available, hence the clearer the image.

Short Name	NLP
Long Name	Natural Language Processing
URL	http://www.cnlp.org/publications/03nlp.lis.encyclopedia.pdf
Definition	Natural Language Processing (NLP) is the computerized approach to analyzing text that is based on both a set of theories and a set of technologies. It is an area of active research with an array of definitional possibilities. Its potential use for the biocollections community is the analysis, interpretation, and parsing of printed and written label data for insertion into electronic data management systems.

Short Name	OCR
Long Name	Optical Character Recognition
URL	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_character_recognition
Definition	A software implemented process for scanning documents or images from scanners or files, recognizing textual components within these objects, and converting textual components into human readable text.

Short Name	Pixel
Long Name	Picture Element
URL	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel
Definition	In digital imaging, the smallest addressable element or representable unit in an image. Pixels are normally arranged in a two-dimensional grid and often represented using dots. Pixel intensity is variable. In color image systems, a color is typically represented by three or four component intensities such as red, green, and blue, or cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. The more pixels an image contains, the clearer the image and the greater the available zoom intensity.

Short Name	PPI
Long Name	Pixels Per Inch
URL	http://www.andrewdaceyphotography.com/articles/dpi/
Definition	A measure of the number of pixels in each inch of a digital image at a given size. Each digital image contains a fixed number of pixels. Expanding the image in width reduces PPI; reducing the image in width increases PPI. PPI and DPI are often and incorrectly used interchangeability. See DPI in this glossary.

Short Name	Voice Recognition
Long Name	Voice Recognition
URL	Voice recognition
Definition	Voice recognition software allows for hands-free control of software and textual data entry. This capability has potential for integration into digital workflows for control of workflow components (cameras, software) and for data entry (dictation, metadata).

Short Name	URI
Long Name	Uniform Resource Identifier
URL	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Resource_Identifier
Definition	A string of characters used to uniquely (and ideally persistently) identify an object or resource on the Internet. Such identification enables interaction with representations of the resource over a network (typically the World Wide Web) using specific protocols. Schemes specifying a concrete syntax and associated protocols define each URI.

Short Name	UUID
Long Name	Universally Unique Identifier
URL	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universally_unique_identifier
Definition	A 128 bit unsigned integer created to uniquely identify an iDigBio record, and used to determine if a record has been changed.

Short Name	ABCD
Long Name	Access to Biological Collection Data
URL
Definition

Short Name	EML
Long Name	Ecological Metadata Language
URL	http://knb.ecoinformatics.org/software/eml/
Definition	Metadata specification developed by the ecology discipline by the Ecological Society of America and associated efforts (Michener et al., 1997, Ecological Applications), implemented as a series of XML document types that can by used in a modular and extensible manner to document ecological data.

Short Name	NetCDF
Long Name	Network Common Data Form
URL	http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/netcdf/
Definition	"Set of interfaces for array-oriented data access and a freely-distributed collection of data access libraries for C, Fortran, C++, Java, and other languages. The netCDF libraries support a machine-independent format for representing scientific data. Together, the interfaces, libraries, and format support the creation, access, and sharing of scientific data. "