This document is a structured presentation of the current status of an initiative aimed at creating a consensus glossary of temporal database terms. It contains the list of complete proposals for temporal database concepts and names which have been submitted to the mailing list tsql@cs.arizona.edu since an initial glossary appeared in September 1992. The purpose of the document is to give potential contributors an overview of the terms proposed so far.
In order to obtain a consensus glossary, the proposed concepts and names are intended to be discussed during the first workshop on temporal databases (``International Workshop on an Infrastructure for Temporal Databases''), scheduled to be held in Arlington, TX, June 14-16, 1993. The objective of this workshop is to define and establish a common infrastructure of temporal databases and to develop a consensus base document that will provide a foundation for implementation and standardization as well as for further research.
An initial glossary on temporal database concepts and names was developed during the preparation of a forthcoming book on temporal databases (Temporal Databases: Theory, Design, and Implementation, edited by A. Tansel, J. Clifford, S. Gadia, S. Jajodia, A.d Segev, and R. Snodgrass, Benjamin/Cummings Publishers, Database Systems and Applications Series). That glossary also appears in the September 1992 issue of the SIGMOD Record. The terms and concepts from that glossary are included here in an appendix, in a dictionary format. In addition, the appendix includes relevance and evaluation criteria for glossary entries. The main body of this docoment has two parts. First, glossary entries proposed between December 1992 and the present time are presented. Second, glossary entries proposed between September 1992 and December 1992 are presented. Discussions in both parts refer to the evaluation criteria in the appendix.