Grouping Like Data Elements
One of the many uses of the mnemonic dictionary is in grouping together related data elements. This is especially useful when looking across multiple spreadsheets.
In general, there are two components that are gathered for each record of metadata: the row identifier and the column name. These two elements come from different places in the spreadsheet, and are combined to define a single value of data.
One way that different mnemonics of data can be related (and potentially combined) is through similarity of the column names, as illustrated in Figure 10.1.
The other way that data in the mnemonic dictionary can be related or combined is through similarity of the row identifier, as shown in Figure 10.2.
A third possibility for relating and combining different mnemonic dictionary elements is to use the alternative name to combine completely unrelated elements of data. Figure 10.3 shows this possibility.
