specificswhat

Specificswhat is a term used in information organization to denote a precise, unambiguous specification of the attributes that identify a single entity within a defined domain. It functions as a minimal descriptor that distinguishes the target from all relevant references. The concept emphasizes specificity and completeness without including extraneous detail.

A specificswhat consists of a structured set of attribute-value pairs. Each attribute is chosen for its discriminatory power, and the collection together constitutes a unique fingerprint for the item. In practice, the specificswhat should be stable over time and machine-readable, enabling reliable matching across datasets.

Examples include a library catalog entry in which the specificswhat for a book includes the exact title, author, edition, publisher, year, and ISBN; in product databases, a specificswhat might include model number, color, size, and serial number. The idea is to provide a reproducible, queryable signature that uniquely identifies the item within its domain.

Applications span search interfaces, cataloging, data integration, entity resolution, and natural language processing tasks that require precise disambiguation. The concept is closely related to, yet distinct from, traditional unique identifiers, disambiguation procedures, and feature-vector representations used in classification and retrieval systems.

Limitations include the need for standardized attribute definitions, potential brittleness when domains evolve, and privacy considerations if sensitive attributes are included. The term appears in experimental knowledge-management and data-modeling discussions and does not correspond to a single formal standard.