Otherreferenced

Otherreferenced is a coinage used to describe a referential relation in which the identity, attributes, or meaning of a resource is determined primarily through references to other resources rather than through its own intrinsic properties. The term is not part of a widely adopted standard, but it appears in discussions of knowledge management, information architecture, and data modeling to highlight how some entities are defined by their connections to other entities.

In knowledge graphs and metadata schemas, an otherreferenced resource carries one or more references to related objects. The defining characteristics include reliance on external references for interpretation and potential implications for provenance, consistency, and editing. A resource labeled as otherreferenced may derive descriptive attributes from its referenced partners, or its identity may be clarified by the set of links it bears to other nodes.

Examples are common in scholarly contexts, where a concept is defined primarily by citations to prior works; in data systems, where a data asset's meaning is described by its relationships to datasets and ontologies; or in software documentation, where a module’s role is explained through its dependencies and interactions rather than standalone text.

The concept overlaps with cross-references, see-also links, citations, and dependencies. However, it emphasizes the primacy of external references in defining a resource, rather than relying on internal attributes alone. As a result, it raises considerations for provenance, versioning, and coherence across a network of related resources.

As of now, "otherreferenced" remains a niche or proposed term rather than a standard term in major schemas such as RDF, OWL, Dublin Core, or SKOS. It is mainly discussed in theoretical or design contexts and may be encountered in early-stage modeling discussions or literature on linked data.