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Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
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OCR for page 44
G lossary
ADP--automatic data processing.
Application Program--a computer program that is organized and written
in terms of a specific end use or direct application of the computer
system--as distinguished from a system program that augments or extends
the general capabilities of the computer system and as distinguished
from a utility program that provides a specific capability that is
likely to be useful in many different applications.
Architecture (of an information system)--in analogy with the architec-
ture of a building, the organization or configuration of the system in
terms of its main subsystems and components. "Architecture" usually
implies relationships that are structured, but sometimes the term
is used to refer to relationships that are primarily functional.
Batch Processing--the periodic processing of data that has accumulated
over a period of time as distinguished from real-time processing where
individual transactions are presented for processing as they occur.
Branch Office--a local SSA office subordinate to a district office,
often open only part-time.
Central Processing Unit (CPU)--the section of a computer system that
performs logical, arithmetic, and control operations. A CPU also
performs some storage functions, but as the term is used today, it does
not include the main memory/storage parts of the computer system.
Claims System--the application subsystem that determines claims
entitlement for clients of the Social Security Administration system.
Communications Network--a collection of communications channels, switch-
ing centers, control devices, and other equipment that collectively
comprises a communications capability interconnecting a number of
locations.
Confidentiality--the status accorded to sensitive information that
characterizes a need to limit access to it without proper authorization.
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45
Current Process--the total process, hardware-software-human activity
and procedures, through which the Social Security Administration
currently delivers its services.
Data Base--an organized collection of information available to one or
more processing systems or to users for referencing purposes. See
Record.
Data Processing (by computer)--the application of computer systems and
storage media to the management and manipulation of data, as distin-
guished from computer applications devoted to scientific computations,
interactive communications, or process control.
Disk Storage--a direct access storage device that can store from a few
million up to several hundred million (eight-bit) bytes of data.
Information is stored magnetically on one or more rotating disks.
Distributed Processing--a method of processing that uses a number of
interconnected computers, separated geographically.
District Office--a full-time local SSA office where the public can
obtain information about Social Security benefits and file claims.
Earnings System--the application subsystem that manages the recordkeep-
ing related to earnings.
Enumeration System--the application subsystem that assigns Social
Security Numbers and keeps track of them.
File--a series of units of information that are structurally similar to
one another. File implies succession. See Record.
Future Process--the total process--hardware, software, human activity
and procedures--through which the SSA could deliver services from the
mid-80's through the end of the century.
Hardware--the physical equipment used in computer and/or communications
systems. The computer, terminal devices, modems, and data communications
circuits are considered hardware, as differentiated from software, which
consists of programs and data that apply hardware to a function or task.
Hierarchy--a structured array of information, categories, people,
systems or other items, with graded relationships among the items. A
hierarchy can usually be represented by a branching tree (or root)
diagram.
Horizontal Slice--a transition plan in which the several SSA services
would be converted one at a time to the new process and then implement-
ed individually throughout the SSA.
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46
Human Factors--the behavioral components of a work system, in this case,
the SSA process. "Human factors" is used (in a plural sense) to refer
to the factors relating to human performance, and (in a singular sense)
to the field of study that stresses such considerations.
Integrated Data Base (for SSA)--a single, unified data base containing
the data necessary for all SSA processes (as distinguished from the
present multiple files, each organized for a separate application).
Interactive--a category of computer applications characterized by
communication between a user and a computer program, with which the user
interacts. The cycle time for the interaction is usually a few seconds
or less.
Magnetic Tape--an information storage medium that utilizes thin strips
of plastic coated with a magnetic material. A tape is typically 2400
feet long and half an inch or an inch wide. Information is stored on it,
typically, in rows of bits, usually eight bits (one byte) per row, with
a few hundred to a few thousand bytes stored per inch along the length
of the tape.
Mass Storage--the storage of a very large amount of data in a single
storage device, readily accessible to a central processing unit. Typical
mass stores can hold from 50 billion to 5 trillion bits.
Management Information System (MIS)--a system intended to provide
information to the management of an organization to support planning,
decision making, evaluation and monitoring, of operations. A modern
MIS in a geographically distributed organization includes computer and
telecommunication functions that are carefully interfaced with operation-
al computer and telecommunications systems.
Modeling (computer-based)--representing, in the form of computer programs
and data, an abstraction of a system, organization, or process. The
behavior of the representation as it runs in a computer can be studied
to gain an understanding of, or to test hypotheses about, the system,
organization, or process it represents. "Modeling" and "simulation" are
often used as synonyms; when a distinction is made, "modeling" is usually
made the broader, more general term and is used to include, for example,
closed-form mathematical representation, whereas simulation is restricted
to the subset of models in which, to a fairly low level of detail, parts
of the model correspond directly to parts of the thing modeled.
OAS--the Office of Advanced Systems. The organization within the Social
Security Administration responsible for planning a future SSA process.
On-Line--perta~ning to peripheral equipment under direct control of, or
in communication with the central processing unit of a computer system;
or pertaining to a user's ability to interact with a computer. See Real-
Time.
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47
Packet Switching--a communications technique by which information is
transmitted from source to destination as addressable packets of both
data and control elements, through a network of high speed switches.
Partitioning--the subdivision or segmentation of a system. process, or
collection of information, usually to simplify development, management,
operation, or maintenance.
Post-Entitlement System--the application subsystem that processes
information affecting the continuing entitlement of clients already
authorized to receive benefits, and the amount of benefit payments to
them.
Privacy--(in this context) the principles that underlie the Privacy Act
of 1974, including such principles as: that there are limits to the
types of information that an organization may collect about an
individual, and limits on the internal uses and external disclosure of
that information; that individuals have a right to see and copy info~ua-
tion maintained about themselves, and to correct and amend it; and that
agencies of the federal government must not be secretive about their
personal-data record-keeping policies, practices, and systems.
Production Rule Systems--a software system in which the program is
essentially a list of condition-action pairs or if-then pairs. In the
simplest such system, the computer tests the condition part of the first
pair and, if it is satisfied (true) carries out the corresponding action
and then goes back to the starting point for another cycle. If the
first condition is not satisfied (false), the computer goes to the
second pair, tests its condition, and, if it is true, carries out the
corresponding action and then goes back to the start. If the second
condition is false, the computer goes to the third pair, and so on. In
most production rule systems, most of the conditions and actions are
complex.
Program Service Center--a major SSA office that reviews the more complex
claims, that certifies the correctness of continuous payments, and acts
as the repository for claims folders.
Real-Time--the actual time during which a physical process (external
to a computer system) is active. Also, the natural rate of flow of
time, so that "real time" can be distinguished from "fast time" (as in
a speeded-up motion picture) and "slow time" (as in time-lapse photo-
graphy). A real-time computer system is one that is capable of
communicating with an external process without delaying that process.
If the users of an interactive computer system are viewed as "external
processes," and if the system supports them in their work without
delaying them, the interactive system may be said to be a real-time
system, but usually "real-time" is used in referring to computer systems
that monitor and/or control physical or chemical, industrial or military
processes.
1
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48
Record--a grouping or structuring of information, usually consisting of
several elementary items or subordinate groups. Typically, all the
information in a record is about a single individual, a single entity.
If there are many entities, all of the same type, typically their
records are stored in a sequence and referred to as a "file." Thus
"record" refers to one or more intermediate levels in a hierarchy that
includes "data base" at or near the top, "file" at a high level, then
"record" (or sometimes "structure"), and "item", "field", or "element"
at or near the bottom.
Response Time--the time that elapses between giving a command to a
computer system and receiving a response from it. Response time will
vary depending on the transmission times, processing time, access time
to obtain files, and time lost waiting for competing tasks to be
accomplished.
REP (Request for Proposal)--a solicitation for bids to perform work,
in this case, the development and implementation of the future process.
RSHDI Redesign--the Retirement, Survivors, Health, and Disability
Insurance Redesign Project, a project to make improvements in the
current SSA data processing system.
Security--the protection of systems and information against damage or
denial of use.
Software--computer programs, routines, and programming languages and
systems.
SSA--the Social Security Administration.
SSADARS--Social Security Administration Data Acquisition and Response
System. This is a computer-communications system providing on-line
access from some SSA district offices and program service centers to
some of the records maintained in the Baltimore center.
SSN--social security number. The number associated with each
"enumerated" SSA client.
Terminal--a device serving as an input and/or output interface with a
computer, communication, or information system. Often restricted in
meaning to input/output devices used by people, and sometimes restricted
further to input/output devices used by people in on-line interaction.
A terminal often services both input and output functions, and usually
includes a keyboard and a display. The broader senses of "terminal"
include optical character readers and printers as well as teletypewriters
and television-like display units with associated keyboards.
TEF--the Test and Evaluation Facility created by SSA to study human
factors considerations pertinent to the future process.
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49
Teleservice Center--An SSA facility from which SSA personnel deal with
SSA clients by telephone.
Transparent (conduit)--a telecommunications path (system) that delivers
.
information in the same form in which it receives it.
Transition--the change from one procedure, mode, or system to another.
The transition referred to in this document relates specifically to the
change from the current SSA process to the future one.
Users--(in the future process) - SSA employees, particularly those in
local offices, teleservice centers, and program service centers, who
will work with the future system.
Whole-Person Concept--a system design concept that would interrelate
all information about each individual client. Thus, any change to
information about an individual--for example, an address change--would
need to be input only once in order to change all pertinent records.
Vertical Slice--a term associated with two of the three transition
plans considered in this report: in one all future process services
would be activited in a few district offices prior to being implemented
throughout the system; in the other, complete subsystems would be
upgraded as a prerequisite to future process services being activated.
See Figure 1 (page 19~.
i
1 ~
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
security administration
