What's In A Word? - The Beginner's Guide to E-Discovery Terminology & Definitions

Learn the language of e-Disovery:  The first step in learning a new subject is to learn the terminology of that subject.  The following is the first of a  list of words to be presented. Sourced from " The Sedona Conference® Glossary (Second Edition)".

• e-Discovery - The collection, preparation, review and production of electronic documents in litigation discovery. This includes e-mail, attachments, and other data stored on a computer, network, backup or other storage media. e-Discovery includes metadata.
• Concept Search -  'Concept search' in litigation refers to the search of electronic documents on the basis of ideas they contain, rather than just specific keywords. Concept searching is usually implemented by broadening a keyword-based search to include synonyms or using a thesaurus to include results related to the ideas in the search keywords, even though not directly derived from the keyword search term.
• De-duplication (or deduplication) -  The identification and segregation of exact or nearly-exact files. De-duplication can substantially reduce the cost of working with electronic document, as multiple copies of the same file need not be reviewed.
• Document Management System - . A computer system that tracks and stores electronic documents or image representations of paper documents.
• Deleted Files. When a file is deleted from an operating system (e.g. Windows), the contents of the file may still remain intact. Specialized computer utilities can be used to reconstruct deleted files, sometimes bypassing the operating system and directly reading the raw drive sectors.
• Electronic Data Discovery or EDD  -  The process of gathering, reviewing and producing of documents in electronic format. Electronic documents include e-mail, memos, letters, spreadsheets, databases, office documents, presentations and other electronic formats commonly found on computer, network hard drives, back-up tapes and off-line storage such as CDs, DVDs, ZIP drives, etc.
• Email string -  A series of e-mails linked together by e-mail responses and forwarding. Email string are often treated as a single document.
  
  There's more!  Additional terms and definitions will be posted. Meanwhile, let's analyze and research these terms for additional information and enhancements. Please share your findings and thoughts.