The Purpose of a Data Dictionary: Why It Should Be Your Top Priority

A data dictionary is a collection of metadata such as object name, data type, size, classification, and relationships with other data assets. It acts as a reference guide on a dataset.

According to HBR, data scientists spend 80% of their time in finding, cleaning, and organizing data. That leaves them with only 20% to perform critical roles such as analysis.

That’s why organizations with large swathes of data need a data dictionary. It is an essential tool to empower users and promote a data-driven culture within an organization.

Table of content

1. Maximizing your data potential: The 7 true purposes of a data dictionary
2. Implementing a data dictionary tool - What do you need to remember before diving in?
3. 10 Steps to set up a data dictionary tool that meets your organization’s needs
4. Rounding it up all together
5. Data dictionary: Related reads

Maximizing your data potential: The 7 true purposes of a data dictionary

It serves several purposes that can help facilitate the effective use of data as an asset and enable collaboration among teams and with external agencies. That includes:

1. Documentation
2. Standardization
3. Data quality
4. Data governance
5. Data discoverability
6. Data productization
7. Education and training

Now, let us look into each of them one by one.

1. Documentation: A data dictionary provides centralized and structured documentation of your organization’s data assets. It describes the meaning, relationships, and usage of data elements, making it easier for users to understand and utilize the available data.
2. Standardization: By providing a common language and definitions for data elements, a data dictionary helps to ensure consistency in data usage and interpretation across the organization. This standardization enables better collaboration, as teams can share and understand each other’s data more easily.
3. Data quality: A data dictionary serves as a reference point for data quality initiatives, as it provides information about data types, formats, constraints, and validation rules. By adhering to these standards, teams can improve data quality, which in turn increases the value of the data products they create.
4. Data governance: As part of a broader data governance strategy, a data dictionary helps to establish clear ownership and accountability for data assets. By defining data owners and stewards, your organization can ensure that data is properly maintained, protected, and utilized in compliance with internal and external policies.
5. Data discoverability: A data dictionary makes it easier for users to discover relevant datasets, as it serves as a catalog of available data assets. This can encourage users to explore new data sources and find innovative ways to leverage data in their work.
6. Data productization: By providing detailed metadata, a data dictionary enables the creation of data products that can be shared both internally and with external firms. This metadata can be used to automate the provisioning and sharing of data, making it more efficient to collaborate and exchange data assets.
7. Education and training: A data dictionary can serve as a valuable resource for training new employees and educating existing staff on your organization’s data assets. By providing clear and comprehensive information about your data, it can help foster a data-literate workforce that is better equipped to use data in decision-making and problem-solving.

In summary, a data dictionary plays a critical role in fostering a data-driven culture within your organization by promoting consistency, quality, governance, discoverability, and collaboration around your data assets.

Now, let us understand what you need to consider before you evaluate a data dictionary tool.

Implementing a data dictionary tool - What do you need to remember before diving in?

Before you begin evaluating data dictionary tools in the market, it’s important to have a clear understanding of your organization’s needs, goals, and existing infrastructure. Some prerequisites to consider include:

1. Define your objectives
2. Assess your data landscape
3. Know your user base
4. Data governance framework
5. Data standards and policies
6. Budget and resources
7. Integration with existing tools
8. Security and compliance requirements

Now, let us look into each of these prerequisites more granularly.

1. Define your objectives: Clearly outline the goals you want to achieve with a data dictionary tool, such as improving data governance, promoting a data-driven culture, or enhancing collaboration. This will help you identify the specific features and capabilities you need in a tool.
2. Assess your data landscape: Understand the types, sources, and formats of data used across your organization, as well as any existing data management systems or tools. This will give you a better idea of the tool’s compatibility and integration requirements.
3. Know your user base: Identify the primary users of the data dictionary tool, such as data analysts, data scientists, developers, or business users. Consider their technical skills, expertise, and specific needs to ensure the tool you choose is user-friendly and accessible to all relevant stakeholders.
4. Data governance framework: Establish a data governance framework that outlines the roles, responsibilities, and processes for managing data assets within your organization. This will help you identify the governance features you need in a data dictionary tool, such as access controls, audit trails, or approval workflows.
5. Data standards and policies: Define your organization’s data standards and policies, including naming conventions, data quality rules, and data privacy guidelines. These standards will serve as a foundation for your data dictionary and help you assess whether a tool can support your organization’s requirements.
6. Budget and resources: Determine the budget and resources available for acquiring and implementing a data dictionary tool. This includes not only the cost of the software itself but also any necessary hardware, training, or support services.
7. Integration with existing tools: Identify any existing tools or systems that your data dictionary tool will need to integrate with, such as data warehouses, data lakes, or data catalogtools. Ensure the tool you choose is compatible with these systems and can easily exchange information with them.
8. Security and compliance requirements: Understand your organization’s data security and compliance requirements, such as data encryption, access controls, and regulatory compliance. Ensure the data dictionary tool you choose meets these requirements to protect your data assets and comply with relevant regulations.

Once you have a clear understanding of these prerequisites, you’ll be better equipped to evaluate data dictionary tools and select one that best meets your organization’s needs, goals, and existing infrastructure.

When you’ve evaluated and signed up for a data dictionary tool, it is time for you to set it up. In the next section, we will learn how to do that.

10 Steps to set up a data dictionary tool that meets your organization’s needs

Once you’ve selected a data dictionary tool that aligns with your organization’s objectives and goals, follow these steps to set it up:

1. Establish a project plan
2. Install and configure the software
3. Define data elements
4. Establish standards and conventions
5. Document metadata
6. Assign roles and responsibilities
7. Integrate with existing tools
8. Implement data governance processes
9. Promote user adoption
10. Monitor and evaluate

Let’s look into each of these steps in depth.

1. Establish a project plan: This is the right time to create a detailed project plan, including objectives, timelines, resources, and responsibilities. This will help ensure a smooth implementation and keep all stakeholders informed on your progress.
2. Install and configure the software: Install the data dictionary tool on the appropriate hardware or cloud infrastructure, following the provider’s guidelines. Remember to configure the tool to meet your organization’s security, compliance, and integration requirements.
3. Define data elements: Identify the key data elements you want to document in the data dictionary. These may include tables, columns, data types, formats, and relationships. You will need to prioritize the most critical or frequently-used datasets in your organization.
4. Establish standards and conventions: Define and document the naming conventions, data types, and formats that will be used consistently across your organization. Ensure these standards are aligned with your organization’s data policies and guidelines.
5. Document metadata: For each data element, document the relevant metadata, such as a description, data type, format, domain values, constraints, relationships, source, and owner. Speak to data owners, stewards, and users in this process to encourage collaboration and all-around accuracy.
6. Assign roles and responsibilities Set up appropriate user roles and access controls within the data dictionary tool. It includes roles such as administrators, data owners, data stewards, and data consumers. Next up, assign responsibilities and provide training to ensure all stakeholders understand their roles in maintaining and using the data dictionary.
7. Integrate with existing tools: Connect the data dictionary tool to your existing data management systems, such as data warehouses, data lakes, or data catalog tools. Ensure the tool can automatically discover, import, and synchronize metadata from these systems to keep the data dictionary up-to-date.
8. Implement data governance processes: Establish processes for managing and maintaining the data dictionary, such as regular data audits, metadata updates, and approval workflows for changes. These processes should be integrated into your broader data governance framework.
9. Promote user adoption: Train users on how to access, navigate, and utilize the data dictionary tool effectively. Encourage its use as a central resource for understanding and working with data assets in your organization. Develop a communication plan to keep users informed of updates and improvements to the data dictionary.
10. Monitor and evaluate: Regularly monitor the usage and effectiveness of the data dictionary tool. Get feedback from users and stakeholders to identify areas for improvement, and make adjustments as needed. This will help ensure that your data dictionary remains a valuable resource that supports your organization’s data-driven goals.

By following these steps, you can successfully set up your data dictionary tool and foster a data-driven culture that empowers users to leverage data assets effectively and collaboratively.

Rounding it up all together

A robust data dictionary tool can productize data, improve collaboration, and more importantly - treat data as an asset. Therefore, let us quickly recap what we understood so far:

1. A data dictionary serves as a centralized repository for documenting and standardizing data elements, ensuring consistency, quality, governance, and discoverability.
2. Before evaluating data dictionary tools in the market, make sure you know your organization’s needs, goals, and existing infrastructure. Understand who your users are, the type of data governance framework you need, and know your budget to deploy the tool. Moreover, no data dictionary tool can serve its purpose in silos - so earmark the integration requirements with existing tools, and be cognizant of your organization’s security and compliance requirements.
3. When you’ve selected a solution provider, make sure you draw a project plan before setting up the tool. Then, you’ll need to define data elements, standards and conventions, and document metadata. A data dictionary tool needs humans to control it. So, assign roles and responsibilities within your organization which will also help promote user adoption. Figure out which tools you’ll need to integrate it with, implement the requisite data governance processes and constantly monitor its usage and effectiveness.

By successfully implementing a data dictionary tool, you can empower users to use data more effectively, drive innovation through data productization and collaboration, and create a data-literate workforce within your organization.

If you are looking to build or evaluate a modern data dictionary, take Atlan for a spin. Atlan is more than a standard data dictionary. It’s a third-generation modern data catalog built on the framework of embedded collaboration, borrowing principles from GitHub, Figma, Slack, Notion, Superhuman, and other modern tools that are commonplace today.

Data dictionary: Related reads

• Data Dictionary — Examples, Templates, Best Practices, How To Create One, and Available Tools
• Top 6 Benefits of a Data Dictionary
• Snowflake Data Dictionary — Documentation for Your Database
• Data Catalog vs. Data Dictionary: Definitions, Differences, Benefits & Why Do You Need Them?
• Data Dictionary vs. Business Glossary: Definitions, Examples & Why Do They Matter?