riformation

Riformation is a term used in information science to describe deliberate processes for reforming information systems and data assets to improve structure, quality, accessibility, and interoperability. It combines elements of data curation, metadata management, and information architecture. While not a formal standard, the term has been used in research and industry discussions to distinguish ongoing reform from one-off data cleaning.

Core concepts include standardization of metadata schemas, alignment of ontologies and vocabularies, schema mapping, data cleansing, and documentation of provenance. Riformation emphasizes interoperability across systems, reproducibility of analyses, and clear governance over data lifecycles.

Applications include digital libraries and archives, scientific data management, enterprise data governance, and knowledge graphs. Techniques commonly employed are metadata enrichment, schema alignment, controlled vocabularies, RDF/OWL ontologies, and data lineage tracking.

Challenges include resource requirements, balancing standardization with flexibility, keeping standards up-to-date, and managing evolving data. Success factors include clear policies, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and transparent versioning and provenance.

See also: data governance, information architecture, metadata management, data curation, ontology engineering, interoperability.