E-Discovery — page 2 of 9

E-Discovery terms

101. CGA (Color Graphics Adapter) See Video Graphics Adapter (VGA).
102. Chaff/winnowing Advanced encryption technique involving data dispersal and mixing
103. Chain of Custody A process used to maintain and document the chronological history of electronic evidence.
104. Character Treatment The use of all caps or another standard form of treating letters in a coding project.
105. Chat See Instant messaging (IM). A form of real-time communication between two or more people based on typed text.
106. Check Digit One digit, usually the last, of an identifying field is a mathematical function of all of the other digits in the field.
107. CIE (Commission International de lEclairage) The international commission on color matching and illumination systems.
108. Cine-Mode Data recorded on a film strip such that it can be read by a human when held vertically.
109. Cinepak A compression algorithm; see MPEG.
110. CITIS (Contractor Integrated Technical Information Service) The Department Of Defense now requires contractors to have an integrated electronic document image and management system.
111. client Any computer system that requests a service of another computer system. A workstation requesting the contents of a file from a file server is a client of…
112. Client/Server An architecture whereby a computer system consists of one or more server computers and numerous client computers (workstations).
113. Clipboard A holding area that temporarily stores information copied or cut from a document.
114. cluster Clusters are fixed length blocks of bytes that store data for Microsoft operating systems.
115. Cluster (File) The smallest unit of storage space that can be allocated to store a file on operating systems that use a file allocation table (FAT) architecture.
116. Cluster (System) A collection of individual computers that appear as a single logical unit. Also referred to as matrix or grid systems.
117. Cluster bitmaps Used in NTFS to keep track of the status (free or used) of clusters on the hard drive.
118. CMYK Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. A subtractive method used in four color printing and Desktop Publishing.
119. coding Litigation Support: Automated or human process through which documents are examined and evaluated using predetermined codes, and the results of those…
120. COLD (Computer Output to Laser Disc) A computer programming process that outputs electronic records and printed reports to laser disc instead of a printer.
121. COM (Computer Output to Microfilm) A process that outputs electronic records and computer generated reports to microfilm.
122. Comb A series of boxes with their top missing. Tick marks guide text entry. Used in forms processing rather than boxes.
123. Comic Mode Human-readable data, recorded on a strip of film which can be read when the film is moved horizontally to the reader.
124. Comma Separated Value (CSV) A record layout that separates data fields/values with a comma and typically encloses data in quotation marks.
125. Compact Disc (CD) A type of optical disc storage media, compact discs come in a variety of formats.
126. Compliance Search The identification of relevant terms and/or parties in response to a discovery request.
127. Component Video Separates video into luminosity and color signals that provide the highest possible signal quality.
128. Composite Video Combines red, green, blue and synchronization signals into one video signal so that only one connector is required; used by most TVs and VCRs.
129. Compression Compression algorithms such as Zip and RLE reduce the size of files saving both storage space and reducing bandwidth required for access and transmission.
130. Compression Ratio The ratio of the size of an uncompressed file to a compressed file, e.g., with a 10:1 compression ratio, a 1 MB file can be compressed to 100 KB.
131. Computer Includes but is not limited to network servers, desktops, laptops, notebook computers, mainframes and PDAs (personal digital assistants).
132. Computer Evidence Computer evidence is rather unique when compared to other forms of more traditional documentary evidence.
133. Computer Forensics Computer Forensics (in the context of this document, forensic analysis) is the use of specialized techniques for recovery, authentication and analysis of…
134. Computer Investigations Computer crimes are specifically defined by federal and/or state statutes and any computer documentary evidence utilized during a computer investigation…
135. Concept Search Searching electronic documents to determine relevance by analyzing the words and putting search requests in conceptual groupings so the true meaning of…
136. Concordance Software A LAN-based document management software program, with features including document storage, search, case organization, transcript management and…
137. Content Comparison A method of de-duplication that compares file content or output (to image or paper) and ignores metadata. See De-Duplication.
138. Contextual Search The process of returning electronic evidence to its true context when created, by whom, for what purpose, etc.
139. Continuous Tone An image (e.g. a photograph) which has all the values of gray from white to black.
140. Convergence Integration of computing, communications and broadcasting systems.
141. Cookie A message given to a Web browser by a Web server. The browser stores the message in a text file.
142. Cookies Holds information on the times and dates a user has visited websites. Other information can also be saved to your hard drive in these text files…
143. Corrupted File A file damaged in some way, such as by a virus, or by software or hardware failure, so that it cannot be read by a computer.
144. COTS (Commercial Off-the-Shelf) Hardware or software products that are commercially manufactured, ready-made and available for use by the general public without the need for…
145. CPI Characters Per Inch.
146. CPU (Central Processing Unit) The primary silicon chip that runs a computers operating system and application software.
147. CRC (Cyclical Redundancy Checking) Used in data communications to create a checksum character at the end of a data block to ensure integrity of data transmission and receipt.
148. CRM (Customer Relationship Management) programs that help manage clients and contacts. Used in larger companies. Often a significant repository of sales, customer, and sometimes marketing data.
149. Cross-Custodian De-Duplication Dupli
150. CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) The picture tube of a computer monitor or television.
151. Cryptography Technique to scramble data to preserve confidentiality or authenticity.
152. Cull (verb) To remove a document from the collection to be produced or reviewed. See Data Filtering, Harvesting.
153. Custodian A financial institution, usually a bank or a trust company, that holds a mutual fund's securities and cash in safekeeping.
154. Custodian De-Duplication Dupli
155. Customer-Added Metadata Data (any information stored on a computer) or work product created by a user while reviewing a document.
156. CYAN Cyan-colored ink reflects blue and green and absorbs red.
157. Cyber or Cyberspace Slang for information shared on the internet. See 'Internet'
158. Cylinder The set of tracks on both sides of each platter in the hard drive that is located at the same head position.
159. DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) Converts digital data to analog data.
160. DAD (Digital Audio Disc) Another term for compact disc.
161. DAT An acronym for Digital Audio Tape, which some backup systems utilize as a storage medium.
162. DAT (Digital Audio Tape) A magnetic tape generally used to record audio but can hold up to 40 gigabytes (or 60 CDs) of data if used for data storage.
163. data A representation of facts, concepts, or instructions in a formalized manner suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing by humans or by…
164. Data and Format Conversion Includes rebuilding PSTs and other e-mail formats as well as voice and video conversion.
165. Data Collection See Harvesting.
166. Data Element A combination of characters or bytes referring to one separate piece of information, such as name, address, or age.
167. Data Extraction The process of retrieving data from documents (hard copy or electronic). The process may be manual or electronic.
168. Data Field See Field.
169. Data Filtering The process of identifying for extraction specific data based on specified parameters.
170. Data Formats The organization of information for display, storage or printing. Data is maintained in certain common formats so that it can be used by various programs…
171. Data Harvesting See Harvesting.
172. Data Mapping Going beyond basic search capabilities, data mapping is also called keyless searching.
173. Data Mining Data mining generally refers to techniques for extracting summaries and reports from an organizations databases and data sets.
174. data set A named or defined collection of data. See also Production Data Set and Privilege Data Set.
175. Data Streams Microsoft introduced a data storage concept called data streams in Windows NT version 3.51.
176. Data Verification Assessment of data to ensure it has not been modified. The most common method of verification is hash coding by some method such as MD5.
177. database In electronic records a database is a set of data elements consisting of at least one file, or of a group of integrated files, usually stored in one…
178. database management system (DBMS) (DBMS) A software system used to access and retrieve data stored in a database.
179. Daubert (challenge) Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 509 U.S. 579 (1993), addresses the admission of scientific expert testimony to ensure that the testimony is…
180. De-duplication De-Duplication ("De-Duping") is the process of comparing electronic records based on their characteristics and removing duplicate records from the data…
181. De-duplication or deduplication The identification and segregation of exact or nearly-exact files. De-duplication can substantially reduce the cost of working with electronic document…
182. De-Fragment (de-frag) Use of a computer utility to reorganize files so they are more contiguous on a hard drive or other storage medium, if the files or parts thereof have…
183. De-shading Removing shaded areas to render images more easily recognizable by OCR. De-shading software typically searches for areas with a regular pattern of tiny…
184. De-skewing The process of straightening skewed (tilted) images. De-skewing is one of the image enhancements that can improve OCR accuracy.
185. De-speckling Removing isolated speckles from an image file. Speckles often develop when a document is scanned or faxed.
186. Decryption Transformation of encrypted (or scrambled) data back to original form.
187. Deleted Data Deleted Data is data that existed on the computer as live data and which have been deleted by the computer system or end-user activity.
188. Deleted File A file with disk space that has been designated as available for reuse. The deleted file remains intact until it has been overwritten with a new file.
189. Deleted files When a file is deleted from an operating system (e.g. Windows), the contents of the file may still remain intact.
190. Deleted Files and Data recoverable information from deleted files and data may be stored in unallocated or slack space on a computer hard drive.
191. Deletion Deletion is the process whereby data is removed from active files and other data storage structures on computers and rendered inaccessible except using…
192. Descenders the portion of a character which falls below the main part of the letter (e.g. g, p, q)
193. Desktop Usually refers to an individual PC -- a user's 'desktop computer' (as opposed to a network computer or server).
194. DIA/DCA (Document Interchange Architecture) An IBM standard for transmission and storage of voice, text or video over networks.
195. Digital Information stored as a string of ones and zeros. Opposite of analog.
196. digital certificate Electronic records that contain keys used to decrypt information, especially information sent over a public network like the Internet.
197. Digital Fingerprint A fixed-length hash code that uniquely represents the binary content of a file.
198. digitize The process of converting an analog value into a digital (numeric) representation.
199. Directory A simulated file folder or container used to organize files and directories in a hierarchical or tree-like structure.
200. Disaster Recovery Tape A form of transferable media device used to store data that is not currently being used by the organization in order to create additional space while…