E-Discovery Glossary
# | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
UDP A protocol allowing computers to send short messages to one another. See Port.
Ultrafiche Microfiche that can hold 1,000 documents/sheet as opposed to the normal 270.
UMS Universal messaging system.
Unicode A 16bit ISO 10646 character set accommodating many more characters than ASCII for uniform representation of character sets from all languages, thus allowing for easier internationalization. Unicode supports characters 2 bytes wide rather than 1 byte currently supported by most systems. Sometimes referred to as “double byte language.” See www.unicode.org for more information. See Double Byte.
Unallocated Space The area of computer media, such as a hard drive, that does not contain normally accessible data. Unallocated space is usually the result of a file being deleted. When a file is deleted, it is not actually erased, but is simply no longer accessible through normal means. The space that it occupied becomes unallocated space, i.e., space on the drive that can be reused to store new information. Until portions of the unallocated space are used for new data storage, in most instances, the old data remains and can be retrieved using forensic techniques.
Underinclusive When referring to data sets returned by some method of query, search, filter or cull, results that are returned incomplete or too narrowly. See False Negative.
Unitization – Physical and Logical The assembly of individually scanned pages into documents. Physical Unitization utilizes actual objects such as staples, paper clips and folders to determine pages that belong together as documents for archival and retrieval purposes. Logical unitization is the process of human review of each individual page in an image collection using logical cues to determine pages that belong together as documents. Such cues can be consecutive page numbering, report titles, similar headers and footers and other logical indicators. This process should also capture document relationships, such as parent and child attachments. See also Attachment, Load File and Message Unit.
UNIX A software operating system designed to be used by many people at the same time (multiuser) capable of performing multiple tasks or operations at the same time (multitasking); common operating system for Internet servers.
Unstructured Data Refers to masses of data which either do not have a data structure or have a data structure not easily readable by machine. Examples of unstructured data may include audio, video and unstructured text such as the body of an email or word processing document. Data with some form of structure may also be referred to as unstructured if the structure is not helpful for the processing task at hand. For example, an HTML webpage is highly structured, but is often oriented towards formatting, rather than performing complex tasks with the content of the page.
Upgrade New or better version of some hardware, software or application
Upload To send a file from one computer to another via modem, network, or serial cable. With a modembased communications link, the process generally involves the requesting computer instructing the remote computer to prepare to receive the file on its disc and wait for the transmission to begin.
URI (Uniform Resource Indicators) See URL.
URL (Uniform Resource Locators) The addressing system used in the World Wide Web and other Internet resources. The URL contains information about the method of access, the server to be accessed and the path of any file to be accessed. Althought there are many different formats, a URL might look like this: http://thesedonaconference.org/publications_html. See Address.
UserAdded Metadata Data, possibly work product, created by a user while copying, reviewing or working with a file, including annotations and subjective coding information.
UTC See Coordinated Universal Time.
Validate In the context of this document, to confirm or ensure well grounded logic, and true and accurate determinations.
VAR/VAD/VASD ValueAdded Reseller/ValueAdded Dealer/ValueAdded Specialty Distributor. Companies or people who sell computer hardware or software and addvalue in the process. Usually, the value added is specific technical or marketing knowledge and/or experience.
VDT (Video Display Terminal) Generic name for all display terminals.
Vector Representation of graphic images by mathematical formulas. For instance, a circle is defined by a specific position and radius. Vector images are typically smoother than raster images.
VendorAdded Metadata Data created and maintained by the electronic discovery vendor as a result of processing the document. While some vendoradded metadata has direct value to customers, much of it is used for process reporting, chain of custody and data accountability. Contrast with UserAdded Metadata. See also Metadata.
Verbatim Coding Extracting data from documents in a collection in a way that matches exactly as the information appears in the documents.
Version, Record Version A particular form or variation of an earlier or original record. For electronic records the variations may include changes to file format, metadata or content.
Vertical DeDuplication A process through which duplicate documents/data are eliminated within a single custodial or production data set. See also Content Comparison, File level Binary Comparison Horizontal Deduplication, Metadata Comparison, and Near DeDuplication.
VGA (Video Graphics Adapter) A PC industry standard, first introduced by IBM in 1987, for color video displays. The minimum dot (pixel) display is 640 by 480 by 16 colors. Then "Super VGA" was introduced at 800 x 600 x 16, then 256 colors. VGA can extend to 1024 by 768 by 256 colors. Replaces EGA, an earlier standard and the even older CGA. Newer standard displays can range up to 1600 by 1280.
Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) Concentrates on computer video standards.
Video Scanner Interface A type of device used to connect scanners with computers. Scanners with this interface require a scanner control board designed by Kofax, Xionics or Dunord.
Virus A selfreplicating program that spreads by inserting copies of itself into other executable code or documents. A program into which a virus has inserted itself is said to be infected, and the infected file (or executable code that is not part of a file) is a host. Viruses are a kind of malware (malicious software). Viruses can be intentionally destructive, for example by destroying ESI, but many viruses are merely annoying. Some viruses have a delayed payload, sometimes referred to a bomb. The primary downside of viruses is uncontrolled selfreproduction, which desecrates or engulfs computer resources.
Vital Record A record that is essential to the organization�s operation or to the reestablishment of the organization after a disaster.
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Telephonic capability across an IP connection; increasingly used in place of standard telephone systems.
Volume A volume is a specific amount of storage space on computer storage media such as hard drives, floppy discs, CDROM discs, etc. In some instances, computer media may contain more than one volume, while in others, one volume may be contained on more than one disc.
Volume Boot Sector/Record When a partition is formatted to create a volume, a volume boot sector is created to store information about the volume. One volume contains the operating system and its volume boot sector contains code used to load the operating system when the computer is booted up. See Partition.
VPN (Virtual Private Network) A secure network that is constructed by using public wires to connect nodes. For example, there are a number of systems that enable creation of networks using the Internet as the medium for transporting data. These systems use encryption and other security mechanisms to ensure that only authorized users can access the network and that the data cannot be intercepted.
WAV File extension name for Windows sound files. ".WAV" files can reach 5 Megabytes for one minute of audio.
Web Site A collection of Uniform Resource Indicators (URIs), including Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), in the control of one administrative entity. May include different types of URIs (e.g., FTP, telnet, or Internet sites). See URI and URL.
Wiki A collaborative website that allows visitors to add, remove, and edit content.
Wildcard Operator A character used in keyword searching that assumes the value of any alphanumeric character and permits more options, such as alternative spellings, to be identified quickly.
Workflow The automation of a business process, in whole or part, during which ESI or tasks are passed from one participant to another for action according to a set of procedural rules.
Workflow, Ad Hoc A simple manual process by which documents can be moved around a multiuser review system on an "asneeded" basis.
Workflow, RuleBased A programmed series of automated steps that route documents to various users on a multiuser review system.
Workgroup A group of computer users connected to share individual talents and resources as well as computer hardware and software – often to accomplish a team goal.
Worm A selfreplicating computer program, sending copies of itself, possibly without any user intervention. See Malware.
WORM Discs Write Once Read Many Discs. A popular archival storage media during the 1980s. Acknowledged as the first optical discs, they are primarily used to store archives of data that cannot be altered. WORM discs are created by standalone PCs and cannot be used on the network, unlike CDROM discs.
WWW (World Wide Web) All of the computers on the Internet which use HTMLcapable software (Netscape, Explorer, etc.) to exchange data. Data exchange on the WWW is characterized by easytouse graphical interfaces, hypertext links, images, and sound. Today the WWW has become synonymous with the Internet, although technically it is really just one component.
WYSIWYG "What You See Is What You Get" Display and software technology that shows on the computer screen exactly what will print. Often requires a large, highdensity monitor.
X.25 A standard protocol for data communications.
XML See Extensible Markup Language.
Yottabyte 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176 bytes 10248 (a septillion bytes). See Byte.
Zettabyte 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424 bytes 10247 (a sextillion bytes). See Byte.
Zip Drive A floppy disc drive that can usually hold as much as 750 megabytes or more. When first available, was often used for backing up hard discs.
ZIP A common file compression format that allows quick and easy storage for transport.
Zone OCR An addon feature of the imaging software that populates document templates by reading certain regions or zones of a document, and then placing the text into a document index.