Dataplex business glossary supports data practitioners in several ways. Firstly, it promotes semantic consistency in defining and interpreting data across teams, which helps to minimize redundancy and reduce the possibility of confusion and misinterpretation when consuming data. For example, with a centrally curated definition of the term ‘retail transaction,’ when two teams produce two different data assets capturing details of retail transactions, they would structure these data assets consistently according to the defined terminology.
Semantic consistency,in turn, reinforces understanding of and trust in data. When attached to data assets, glossary terms provide an additional layer of centrally curated and consistent business context that allows users to confidently establish the degree to which the data assets fit for their purpose. In the above example of customer data, an analyst searching for “show me all customer tables” does not have to worry about varying interpretations for identified data assets, i.e., whether they refer to personal customers or legal entities, etc. With business glossary, the correct interpretation is established via associated glossary terms which provide the required context for these data assets and allow the analyst to identify the relevance of discovered data more reliably.
All the above then unlocks self-serve use of data, allowing users to leverage glossary content to discover data assets (e.g. through search queries like “Show me all entries which attached glossary terms referencing ‘retail transaction’ anywhere in their definitions” – note how search can address varying term metadata, including descriptions and associated Data Stewards, when identifying data assets), understand the semantics of these data assets, and consequently – identify applicable usage scenarios for these data assets.
Additionally, Dataplex business glossary can support data governance, with data governance teams using glossary context for informing data governance policy configuration decisions. For example, these teams can consider data assets associated with glossary terms referencing “customer” for additional access control policies related to customer data handling.
In summary, you can leverage the Dataplex business glossary alongside the broad set of Dataplex data governance capabilities to enable users to establish a common and consistent business language, strengthen trust in data, promote self-serve use, and get value from your data.
How do I get started?
To get started with Dataplex business glossary, visit the Glossaries tab in Dataplex. You can capture business terminology by defining glossaries, terms, and cross-term relationships.
You can then associate cataloged entries with defined terms as you browse data entries in Dataplex Search.
Once glossary content is defined and associated with data entries, you can leverage glossary content in discovery and search.
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