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I'm searching for some sort of document template or guidelines to produce a document that describes data flow, high level data field definitions, data ownership (who produces the master data), etc.

Not really a data dictionary but something intended for business users (non-techie) who are stakeholders in the project.

Anyone know of any such template/document style or will I need to define some sort of custom document to fulfill this need?

Thanks!

+2  A: 

You can use the "4+1 View Model".

See http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/wireless/library/wi-arch11/

See http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~gregor/teaching/papers/4+1view-architecture.pdf

The point is to write from a user's perspective.

  • Use Cases.

  • Business Entities. Not Tables. Real Entities. In the Real World.

  • Processes. Not Programs. Real Processes that Real People Really Do.

  • Physical View. Computers and Disks and stuff. This is more of an appendix than anything else when you're addressing Users and Requirements. Later, you can elaborate this into technical details.

  • Development View. None of the user's business. A part of the total package, but not relevant for high-level discussions with users.

S.Lott