E-Discovery Glossary

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Cache A dedicated, high speed storage location that can be used for the temporary storage of frequently used data. As data may be retrieved more quickly from cache than the original storage location, cache allows applications to run more quickly. Web site contents often reside in cached storage locations on a hard drive.

Caching The temporary storage of frequentlyused data to speed access. See also Cache.

CAD (Computer Aided Design) The use of a wide range of computerbased tools that assist engineers, architects and other design professionals in their design activities.

Case DeDuplication Eliminates duplicates to retain only one copy of each document per case. For example, if an identical document resides with three custodians, only the first custodian´s copy will be saved. See DeDuplication.

Catalog See Index.

CCD (Charge Coupled Device) A computer chip the output of which correlates with the light or color passed by it. Individual CCDs or arrays of these are used in scanners as a highresolution, digital camera to read documents.

CCITT Group 4 A lossless compression technique/format that reduces the size of a file, generally about 5:1 over RLE and 40:1 over bitmap. CCITT Group 4 compression may only be used for bitonal images.

CCITT Consultative Committee for International Telephone & Telegraphy. Sets standards for phones, faxes, modems, etc. The standard exists primarily for fax documents.

CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data) A data communication standard utilizing the unused capacity of cellular voice providers to transfer data.

CDR (Compact Disc Recordable A CDROM on which a user may permanently record data once using a CD Burner.

CDRW (Compact Disc ReWritable) A CDROM on which a user may record data multiple times.

CDROM See Compact Disc.

Certificate An electronic affidavit vouching for the identity of the transmitter. See Digital Signature, PKI Digital Signature.

CGA (Color Graphics Adapter) See Video Graphics Adapter (VGA).

Chaff/winnowing Advanced encryption technique involving data dispersal and mixing.

Chain of Custody Documentation and testimony regarding the possession, movement, handling and location of evidence from the time it is obtained to the time it is presented in court; used to prove that evidence has not been altered or tampered with in any way; necessary both to assure admissibility and probative value.

Character Treatment The use of all caps or another standard form of treating letters in a coding project.

Checksum A value used to ensure data is stored or transmitted without error. It is created by calculating the binary values in a block of data using some algorithm and storing the results with the data. When the data is retrieved from memory or received at the other end of a network, a new checksum is computed and matched against the existing checksum. A nonmatch indicates an error.

Child See Document.

CIE (Commission International de l'Eclairage) The international commission on color matching and illumination systems.

CIFS (Common Internet File System) Used for client/server communication within Microsoft operating systems. With CIFS, users with different platforms and computers can share files without having to install new software.

CineMode Data recorded on a film strip such that it can be read by a human when held vertically.

Cinepak A compression algorithm; see MPEG.

CITIS (Contractor Integrated Technical Information Service) The Department of Defense now requires contractors to have an integrated electronic document image and management system.

Clawback Agreement An agreement outlining procedures to be followed to protect against waiver of privilege or work product protection due to inadvertent production of documents or data.

Client/Server An architecture whereby a computer system consists of one or more server computers and numerous client computers (workstations). The system is functionally distributed across several nodes on a network and is typified by a high degree of parallel processing across distributed nodes. With clientserver architecture, CPU intensive processes (such as searching and indexing) are completed on the server, while image viewing and OCR occur on the client. This dramatically reduces network data traffic and insulates the database from workstation interruptions.

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 the file server. See Thin Client.

Clipboard A holding area that temporarily stores information copied or cut from a document.

Cluster (File) The smallest unit of storage space that can be allocated to store a file on operating systems. Windows and DOS organize hard discs based on Clusters (also known as allocation units), which consist of one or more contiguous sectors. Discs using smaller cluster sizes waste less space and store information more efficiently.

Cluster (System) A collection of individual computers that appear as a single logical unit. Also referred to as matrix or grid systems.

Cluster bitmaps Used in NTFS (New Technology File System) to keep track of the status (free or used) of clusters on the hard drive. See NTFS.

Clustering See Data Categorization.

CMYK Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. A subtractive method used in four color printing and Desktop Publishing.

Coding Automated or human process by which documents are examined and evaluated using predetermined codes, and the results recorded. Coding usually identifies names, dates, and relevant terms or phrases. Coding may be structured (limited to the selection of one of a finite number of choices), or unstructured (a narrative comment about a document). Coding may be objective, i.e., the name of the sender or the date, or subjective, i.e., evaluation as to the relevancy or probative value of documents. See Bibliographical/Objective Coding and Subjective Coding.

COLD (Computer Output to Laser Disc) A computer programming process that outputs electronic records and printed reports to laser disc instead of a printer.

COM (Computer Output to Microfilm) A process that outputs electronic records and computer generated reports to microfilm.

Comb A series of boxes with their top missing. Tick marks guide text entry and separate characters. Used in forms processing rather than boxes.

Comic Mode Humanreadable data, recorded on a strip of film that can be read when the film is moved horizontally to the reader.

Comma Separated Value (CSV) A record layout that separates data fields/values with a comma and typically encloses data in quotation marks.

Compact Disc (CD) A type of optical disc storage media, compact discs come in a variety of formats. These formats include CDROMs ("CD ReadOnly Memory") that are readonly; CDRs ("CD Recordable") that are written to once and are then readonly; and CDRWs ("CD ReWritable") that can be written to multiple times.

Compliance Search The identification of and search for relevant terms and/or parties in response to a discovery request.

Component Video Separates video into luminosity and color signals that provide the highest possible signal quality.

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.

Compound Document A file that collects or combines more than one document into one, often from different applications, by embedding objects or linked data; multiple elements may be included, such as images, text, animation or hypertext. See also OLE.

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. Data compression is widely used in backup utilities, spreadsheet applications and database management systems. Compression generally eliminates redundant information and/or predicts where changes will occur. "Lossless" compression techniques such as Zip and RLE preserve the integrity of the input. Coding standards such as JPEG and MPEG employ "lossy" methods that do not preserve all of the original information, and are most commonly used for photographs, audio, and video. See Container File, Decompression, Lossless Compression and Lossy Compression.

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.

Computer Forensics Computer Forensics is the use of specialized techniques for recovery, authentication and analysis of electronic data when an investigation or litigation involves issues relating to reconstruction of computer usage, examination of residual data, authentication of data by technical analysis or explanation of technical features of data and computer usage. Computer forensics requires specialized expertise that goes beyond normal data collection and preservation techniques available to endusers or system support personnel, and generally requires strict adherence to chainofcustody protocols. See also Forensics and Forensic Copy.

Computer Includes but is not limited to network servers, desktops, laptops, notebook computers, mainframes and PDAs (personal digital assistants).

Concatenate Generally, to add by linking or joining so as to form a chain or series; two or more databases of similar structure can be concatenated to enable referencing as one.

Concept Search Searching electronic documents to determine relevance by analyzing the words and putting search requests in conceptual groupings so the true meaning of the request is considered. Concept searching considers both the word and the context in which it appears to differentiate between concepts such as diamond (baseball) and diamond (jewelry).

Container File A single file containing multiple documents and/or files, e.g. .pst, .nsf and .zip files. The file must be ripped or decompressed to determine volume, size, record count, etc., and to be processed for litigation review and production. See Decompression and Rip.

Content Comparison A method of deduplication that compares file content or output (to image or paper) and ignores metadata. See also DeDuplication.

Contextual Search Searching electronic documents where the surrounding text is analyzed to determine relevancy.

Continuous Tone An image (e.g. a photograph) that has all the values of gray from white to black.

Convergence Integration of computing, communications and broadcasting systems.

Cookie A message given to a Web browser by a Web server. The browser stores the message in a text file. The message is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server. The main purpose of cookies is to identify users and possibly prepare customized Web pages for them.

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) a high precision atomic time standard with uniform seconds defined by International Time and leap seconds announced at regular internals to compensate for the earth´s slowing rotation and other discrepancies. Leap seconds allow UTC to closely track Universal Time, a time standard based not on the uniform passage of seconds, but on the Earth´s angular rotation. Time zones around the world are expressed as positive or negative offsets from UTC. Local time is UTC plus the time zone offset for that location, plus an offset (typically +1) for daylight savings, if in effect. As the zero point reference, UTC is also referred to as Zulu time (Z). See also Normalization.

Corrupted File A file damaged in some way, such as by a virus, or by software or hardware failure, so that it is paratially or completely unreadable by a computer.

COTS (Commercial OfftheShelf) Hardware or software products that are commercially manufactured, readymade and available for use by the general public without the need for customization.

CPI Characters Per Inch.

CPU (Central Processing Unit) The primary silicon chip that runs a computer´s operating system and application software. It performs a computer´s essential mathematical functions and controls essential operations.

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. See Checksum.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Applications that help manage clients and contacts. Used in larger companies. Often a significant repository of sales, customer, and sometimes marketing data.

CrossCustodian DeDuplication Culls a document to the extent multiple copies of that document reside within different custodians" data sets. See DeDuplication.

CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) The picture tube of older computer monitors or televisions, to be distinguished from newer "flat" LCD or plasma screens.

Cryptography Technique to scramble data to preserve confidentiality or authenticity.

Cull (verb) To remove a document from the collection to be produced or reviewed. See Data Filtering, Harvesting.

Custodian Person having control of a network, computer or specific electronic files.

Custodian DeDuplication Culls a document to the extent multiple copies of that document reside within the same custodian´s data set. See DeDuplication.

CustomerAdded metadata See UserAdded Metadata.

Cyan Cyancolored ink reflects blue and green and absorbs red.

Cylinder The set of tracks on both sides of each platter in the hard drive that is located at the same head position. See Platter.