<s>
Reference	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
is	O
data	O
used	O
to	O
classify	O
or	O
categorize	O
other	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Examples	O
of	O
reference	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
include	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Reference	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
sets	O
are	O
sometimes	O
alternatively	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
a	O
"	O
controlled	O
vocabulary	O
"	O
or	O
"	O
lookup	O
"	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Reference	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
differs	O
from	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
both	O
provide	O
context	O
for	O
business	O
transactions	O
,	O
reference	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
is	O
concerned	O
with	O
classification	O
and	O
categorisation	O
,	O
while	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
is	O
concerned	O
with	O
business	O
entities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
further	O
difference	O
between	O
reference	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
and	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
is	O
that	O
a	O
change	O
to	O
the	O
reference	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
values	O
may	O
require	O
an	O
associated	O
change	O
in	O
business	O
process	O
to	O
support	O
the	O
change	O
,	O
while	O
a	O
change	O
in	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
will	O
always	O
be	O
managed	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
existing	O
business	O
processes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
most	O
organisations	O
,	O
most	O
or	O
all	O
reference	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
is	O
defined	O
and	O
managed	O
within	O
that	O
organisation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
reference	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
,	O
however	O
,	O
may	O
be	O
externally	O
defined	O
and	O
managed	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
by	O
standards	O
organizations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
example	O
of	O
externally-defined	O
reference	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
is	O
the	O
set	O
of	O
country	B-General_Concept
codes	I-General_Concept
as	O
defined	O
in	O
ISO	B-General_Concept
3166-1	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Curating	O
and	O
managing	O
reference	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
is	O
key	O
to	O
ensuring	O
its	O
quality	O
and	O
thus	O
fitness	O
for	O
purpose	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
aspects	O
of	O
an	O
organisation	O
,	O
operational	O
and	O
analytical	O
,	O
are	O
greatly	O
dependent	O
on	O
the	O
quality	O
of	O
an	O
organization	O
's	O
reference	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Reference	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
gain	O
in	O
value	O
when	O
they	O
are	O
widely	O
re-used	O
and	O
widely	O
referenced	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Examples	O
of	O
good	O
practice	O
in	O
reference	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
management	O
include	O
:	O
</s>
