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J and others,<br><br>
Have a couple of questions/concerns about this new sheet; would be
interested in others' opinions:<br><br>
1) Can you explain a bit the reasons for changing the descriptions at the
top of each module sheet? I don't care that we use exactly the
words I drafted, but yours seem to have different meaning and I want to
make sure we're all on the same page. Namely,<br>
- For modules 2 and 3, you seem to be emphasizing that it's for a
"single nCube structure"--can you expand upon what you mean by
that?<br>
- Also, I'd like to ask you to consider putting back some of the wording
I'd written for module 3 that makes it clear that the metadata and data
are in one single DDI file; I don't think that comes across in your
phrasing.<br>
- Lastly, for module 1, I believe it'd be helpful to include some
explicit reference to the fact that the external file contains no
metadata (to distinguish it from module 2).<br><br>
2) I'm not sure about including only the additions in the first sheet, as
I think the other fields provide helpful context. Might there be a
way to distinguish the new fields (as you had done, e.g., w/color) while
still keeping all of them?<br><br>
3) Your change to module 1, while I have no objections, seems to be
significant enough that we should discuss it as a group. I don't
quite understand the purpose of this. Is this something you think
you could explain/we could discuss in more detail over email (or maybe
phone)?<br><br>
4) Plus a couple of other questions about the elements:<br>
-- in describing the attribute location choice, you refer separately to a
data file vs. a spreadsheet. I understand what you're trying to do,
but am a little concerned about the mutually-exclusive manner in which
they're described (b/other places we use the term "data file"
to include all sorts of formats, including spreadsheets, and think it
should still keep that broad meaning). So I'd suggest changing the
terms to say something like "fixed-format/delimited data file"
and "spreadsheet data file" to distinguish the types to clarify
that we consider them both data files.<br>
- In module 2 F18, what do you mean by " the structure describes all
data and meta data for the cube"--that sounds to me more like module
3.<br>
- Module 3 F19; the notes contains a question; can that be deleted or
should it be moved to G19?<br><br>
When I agreed to cancelling today's meeting, I didn't realize that you'd
have such significant changes, so if it's best to discuss these over the
phone, maybe we can arrange another call.<br><br>
Kate<br><br>
P.S. Plus a couple of typos<br>
- Module 1, F25, should be "measurement"--also applies to M2
F31<br>
- Module 1, F20, ID should be capitalized<br>
- Module 2, F20, should be "coordinates"<br><br>
At 09:29 AM 10/11/2005 -0400, J Gager wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite><font face="arial" size=2>All -
</font><br>
<br>
<font face="arial" size=2>Here is the latest spreadsheet. Note
there are few significant changes that stemmed from a long discussion
Wendy and I had.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="arial" size=2>The first is the Logical sheet. I have
gone back to just including the new fields. I felt it best to do
this, since we weren't changing any existing fields, and I want the focus
to only be on these additions.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="arial" size=2>The second is the Physical Sheets - I have
changed the name of these to Record Layout, since that is what we a truly
representing.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="arial" size=2>Finally, I have changed module 1, to allow for
data items to exist outside of nCubes. Basically what I have done
is create a way to reference an nCube and its attached attributes.
The basic concept that we had originally is still there, it is just less
deviant from the original, and oft used structure.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="arial" size=2>Please let me know of any structural issues
ASAP as the samples and write up is based on this.</font><br>
<br>
<font face="arial" size=2>J</font><br><br>
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___________________________________________<br>
Katherine McNeill-Harman<br>
Data Services Librarian<br>
Dewey Library for Management and Social Sciences<br>
Massachusetts Institute of Technology<br>
77 Massachusetts Avenue, E53-100<br>
Cambridge, MA 02139<br>
mcneillh@mit.edu<br>
617-253-0787</body>
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