Definition for Concept 'Views or accounts'

ISSUE: http://www.w3.org/2011/prov/track/issues/15

Introduction

The Provenance WG charter identifies the concept 'Views or accounts' as a core concept of the provenance interchange language to be standardized (see http://www.w3.org/2011/01/prov-wg-charter).

• What term do we adopt for the concept 'Views or accounts'?
• How do we define the concept 'Views or accounts'?
• Where does concept 'Views or accounts' appear in ProvenanceExample?
• Which provenance query requires the concept 'Views or accounts'?

Proposed Definitions for the Concept 'Views or accounts'

Definition from Simon and Paul

An account is a record of something that has occurred from a particular perspective.

Notes:

• Information regarding provenance is asserted by one or a group of sources and thus is an account of what has occurred.
• The provenance accessible for any one resource will, therefore, be composed of information from one or more accounts.
• The sources of accounts may not be identified.
• Every account should have an identifier, to ensure accounts can be distinguished and annotated.
• The same occurrence (e.g. a "resource" or "process execution") could be referred to in multiple accounts. It is a decision of the account sources whether they are referring to the same thing in their assertions.
• An example of perspective is the granularity of description: whether what has occurred is described coarsely or in detail. There may be other useful examples.