This week's introduction

A few weeks ago, we talked about your data requirements and identified some data holes and noticed some gaps you now need to fill. Then, we talked about things like customizing drop-down menus and making fields mandatory in order to plug those holes. Well, this is the week that we're following up on those topics.

This is part of a broader concept we'll be introducing you to: your data dictionary. Technically speaking, a software developer would think of a data dictionary slightly differently from the way we will be, but the general idea is the same. You have a large database with lots of pieces of data stored within it. There's lots of moving parts and lots of people involved, and it's really important to make sure you have consistency in your data practices. That's where a data dictionary comes in handy - it lets you define all the different fields, and all the different options in each field. That way, you avoid situations where someone is looking at data that another person had entered and wondering "what did they mean by this?"

Reference Materials

• HIFIS 4 Implementation Guide, Sections 2.5.3, 2.5.4, & 2.5.6

• HIFIS 4 Configuration Guide, pages 32-33