Domainverklaringen

Domainverklaringen are formal explanations of the domain of a data element, concept, or variable, used in information management. The term is Dutch and translates roughly to domain explanations. A domainverklaring defines the scope, semantics and constraints that apply to the domain to ensure consistent interpretation across systems and datasets.

A domainverklaring typically includes: domain name, intended scope and boundaries, data type and representation, allowed values or value set, units and measurement rules, constraints such as ranges, mandatory versus optional status, relationships to other domains, provenance, versioning, and governance notes.

Purpose and uses: they reduce ambiguity, improve data quality and interoperability, and support documentation, data integration and API design. They are stored in data catalogs, knowledge bases or ontologies and serve as a reference for developers, data stewards and data scientists.

Creation and maintenance: domain experts and data stewards author and review domainverklaringen, which are versioned and mapped to external standards where possible.

Examples: a "Country" domain might specify ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes, uppercase two-letter strings, and a controlled vocabulary. A "BirthDate" domain could define a date type in ISO-8601, an allowed range, and a single time zone.

Relation to other concepts: domainverklaringen relate to metadata, data dictionaries, ontologies and data governance, and form part of the broader documentation of information assets. In Dutch contexts the term appears in data governance literature and enterprise architecture documentation.