| dc.description.abstract | Various ideas of data have emerged, expressed in practice
through distinct vocabularies of data-related terms. This
article develops a six-category taxonomy of these vocabularies,
and illustrates how their terms are utilized in texts
which relate to geographic information systems (GIS) in
general, and to the HYDRA5water catchment modeling
system developed for the Sydney Water Corporation in
particular. Revealed is complex cross-referencing between
inter-related vocabularies. Terms from different vocabularies
are juxtaposed in such a way as to produce a cascade of
meaningful reference which invites the reader to accept the
transitions from understanding 'data' in one way to understanding
it in another. Several implications are drawn out
briefly: problems with viewing data as 'object'; the need to
explore further how the complexity of data is negotiated in
practice; and the defining role that ideas of data have in
relation to communities of practice, professional education
and technical training.
Keywords: data; data management; geographic information
systems; GIS; pragmatics of language; professional
discourse; representational practice;
terminology use | en_US |
