Creating & Managing Terms in Catalog Glossaries

Using Data Catalog, you can add, edit, and delete terms from your business glossaries. Terms refer to the terminology used by an organization to define data and determine what the data means to the business. Terms are also mapped to data assets to help give business context to technical metadata.

To learn more about glossaries and terms, see Managing Glossaries in the Data Catalog, Assigning Tags and Terms in the Data Catalog, and Reviewing and Approving Recommended Terms.

Term Type

Definition

Example(s)

Data Element

A label that represents an atomic unit of data with a precise meaning or an individual piece of information that is collected / processed on individuals.

SSN, email address, retina scan, etc.

Business Term

A word or phrase used to describe or express a concept in a particular kind of language or branch of business.

Active customer, renewal date, purchase date, etc.

Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

A measurable value for how effective you are at achieving a goal. Evaluates success of an organization or of a particular activity in which it engages.

Net new ARR, customer renewal rate, gross profit, etc.

Metric

Individual data point that tracks status of a process. Metrics are often combined to contribute to a KPI.

Total sales, active customer count, etc.

Acronym

An abbreviation formed from initial letters of other words for quick identification and reference to common data privacy laws.

HIPAA, ARR, GDPR

Type of Individual

The relationship to the individual contained in the data.

Customer, Contact, Sales Lead

To add a new term

  1. On the Data Catalog menu, select Catalog > Glossary.

    The Glossary list screen appears.

  2. In the Terms tab, click the Create New button.

    The Create Term screen appears.

  3. Complete the fields, then click the Save button.
    Note:

    Fields in bold are required to create a new term.

    Field
    Description
    Type

    Select a type of term.

    Name
    Glossary

    Select the glossary to which the term will belong.

    Description

    Enter a description for the term.

    Business Owner

    Select a business owner or owners for the term.

    Business owners are the individuals responsible for defining and updating the business context of a glossary.

    Technical Owner

    Select a technical owner or owners for the term.

    Technical owners are individuals responsible for managing the technical details of a data asset.

    Data Steward

    Select a data steward or stewards for the term.

    Data stewards are individuals responsible for utilizing data governance processes to ensure data reliability and validity within a data asset or business unit.

    Example

    Provide an example of the term.

    Notes

    Enter any additional notes for the term.

    Create term as approved

    Select to automatically approve the term upon creation.

To edit term details

  1. On the Data Catalog menu, select Catalog > Glossary.

    The Glossary list screen appears.

  2. In the Terms tab, select the name of a term you want to edit.

    The Term Details screen appears.


    Term details screen
  3. Hover over a term detail field until the Edit icon Edit icon appears.
  4. Click the Edit icon. All editable fields will display.
  5. Click the Save button.
    Note:

    The permission GovernanceMetadataMgmtEditTerms is required to edit term details.

To delete a term

  1. On the Data Catalog menu, select Catalog > Glossary.

    The Glossary list screen appears.

  2. In the Terms tab, hover over a row for a term until the Context Menu icon Context menu icon appears.
  3. Click the Context Menu icon.

    The Context menu appears.

  4. Select Delete. A confirmation modal appears.
  5. Click the Confirm button.

To export terms

  1. On the Data Catalog menu, select Catalog > Glossary.

    The Glossary list screen appears.

  2. In the Terms tab, use the screen's filters and view selections to populate your targeted terms.
  3. Click the Export button to export the current view of the screen.
    An Export Terms modal appears.
  4. Click the Close button on the modal.
  5. Click the Notifications icon Notifications icon.

    The Notifications popover appears.

  6. Select the Download Terms_YYYY-MM-DD export from the list of tasks to download the file.
    Note:

    The export will download as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

  7. View the export. The Term Attributes sheet contains a list of your organization's terms along with details for each term. The Classification Tag Associations sheet contains a list of your organization's terms and classification tags associated with each term.

To import terms

To view related terms

Relationships between Terms can be established. For example, the Term pay stub can be linked to terms such as salary, deductions, and bonus in the Related Terms

Note:

Relationships between Terms cannot currently be edited in the application. Term relationships must be added using the Create Relationships bulk import template. For more information, see Creating Data Asset Relationships.

  1. On the Data Catalog menu, select Catalog > Glossary.

    The Glossary list screen appears.

  2. In the Terms tab, select a Term from the list.

    The Term Details screen appears.

  3. Navigate to the Related Terms tab. The Terms related to the selected Term are displayed.

Related Terms Screen Reference



Field
Description
Name

The name of the related Term.

Relationship Type

The relationship between the terms.

Type

The related term type.

Description

A short description of the related Term.

Glossary

The Glossary that contains the Related Term.

Status

The approval status of the Related Term.

To remap terms

You have the option to remap a term's relationships to another term which includes approved terms, related tags, or related terms.

Classifier(s) mapped to the original term will need to be edited so the term does not get created again. The original term will still exist until it is actively deleted.

Note:

Remapping terms is currently under Public Preview. Please submit a request to OneTrust Support or your account executive to get early access.

Important:

When a term is remapped, this will also impact any downstream automation rules or saved searches. Users will need to audit these areas to update the defined, original term to the newly remapped term.

  1. On the Data Catalog menu, select Catalog > Glossary.

    The Glossary list screen appears.

  2. Hover over the row of a term to click the Context Menu icon.
  3. Select Remap Term.

    The Remap Term modal appears.

  4. Select a new term to map the current term's assigned objects. All previously approved term records will then belong to the remapped term.
  5. Click the Confirm button.

    Remap term modal

To add a task on a term

Note:

This functionality is currently under Public Preview. Please submit a request to OneTrust Support or your account executive to get early access.

  1. On the Data Catalog menu, select Catalog > Glossary.

    The Glossary list screen appears.

  2. In the Terms tab, select a Term from the list.

    The Term Details screen appears.

  3. Navigate to the Tasks tab. Click Add Task.

    The Add Task modal appears.

  4. Complete the fields to create a task.

    Add task modal
    Field
    Description
    Task Name

    Enter a name for the Task.

    Assignee

    Select a user responsible for the Task. The Task will appear in the user's Notifications pane.

    Deadline

    Select a deadline for the Task to be completed.

    Description

    Add a short description of the Task.

  5. Click Save.

To review activity history of a term

  1. On the Data Catalog menu, select Catalog > Glossary.

    The Glossary list screen appears.

  2. In the Terms tab, select a Term from the list.

    The Term Details screen appears.

  3. Navigate to the Activity tab. You can use this tab to review actions taken on terms, like adding or removing tags, updating descriptions, or changing field values.