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Glossary
If you do not see a particular word or phrase that you would like to know the definition of, please let us know by writing to Julie Langenkamp and indicate the term you would like us to add to the Glossary.
- lagging indicators
- This term is typically used in the economic industry and refers to indicators that occur after an economic trend event and that confirm the trend. These indicators may substantiate or disprove leading indicators.
- latency
- Latency is a time delay between the moment something is initiated and the moment its first effect begins. RAM latency is the amount of time a computer needs to wait to get data from random access memory. Data latency is the delay time for data to be updated in a system. When data latency is reduced or eliminated, it is often said to be in "real time."
- leading indicators
- This term is typically used in the economic industry and refers to indicators that predict an economic trend in advance of the trend occurrence or event. Examples of economic indicators include Consumer Price Index and Unemployment numbers.
- leverage
- Leverage is knowing what actions will most effectively drive a desired outcome.
- lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP)
- Lightweight directory access protocol is based on the standards contained within the X.500 standard, but is significantly simpler. And unlike X.500, LDAP supports TCP/IP, which is necessary for any type of Internet access.
- local access database (LAD)
- A database that serves individual systems and workgroups as the end point for shared data distribution. LADs are the "retail outlets" of the data warehouse network. They provide direct access to the data requested by specific systems or desktop query services. Data is propagated to LADs from data warehouses according to orders for subsets of certain shared data tables and particular attributes therein, or subsets of standard collections. This data is usually located on a LAN server. If servers are not available and the data is static, it may be located on the user's desktop. See Data Warehouse Network.
- local directory
- A data dictionary propagated from the repository to the desktop containing metadata used for developing desktop applications and for generating transactions. A local directory is also used to bind definitions of local data structures used by desktop applications to the data requested from servers.
- location transparency
- A mechanism that keeps the specific physical address of an object from a user. The physical location is resolved within the system so that operations can be performed without knowledge of the actual physical location.
- location-aware technology
- Location-aware technology is the use of GPS (global positioning system), assisted GPS (A-GPS), Enhanced Observed Time Difference (EOTD), enhanced GPS (E-GPS) and other technologies in the cellular network and handset to locate a mobile user.
- logical data model (LDM)
- Actual implementation of a conceptual module in a database. It may take multiple logical data models to implement one conceptual data model. An LDM is a representation of business concepts laid out in a visual format that clearly shows these concepts and their various relationships
