The Office of Information Technology (OIT) will no longer be using the name DataMASTER to refer to our longtime data reporting system, and instead will adhere to the vendor’s naming convention: Cognos. This renaming is part of a larger OIT effort to observe inclusive language best practices, and is also intended to improve transparency of what technology is being used.
Improving Transparency of the Products and Services Utilized at PSU
The name of the product is Cognos, not DataMASTER. The DataMASTER name is specific to PSU and does not convey any information to users about the product they are using. If anyone is curious about the name's origins, the “MASTER” in DataMASTER is actually an acronym for Management and Analytics for Strategic, Timely, Education Reporting, and was originally devised to refer to OIT’s 2009 project of developing a centralized data infrastructure at PSU. As our data landscape took shape under that project, the DataMASTER name was retained and incorporated into the end user experience with the intent to consolidate our various data-related resources under a single (kind of catchy) “PSU branded” domain.
Observance of Inclusive Language Standards
The term “master” alludes to historical and ongoing systems of oppression. From its patriarchal origins in the Old English word "mægester" – meaning “a man having control or authority over a place” – to its use as a legal definition of ownership over people throughout centuries of slavery, “master” has, for hundreds of years, been used to refer to the dominant side of asymmetrical power differentials in one form or another. Implicit in any invocation of the word “master” is an acknowledgement of its intuitive counterpart, “slave” – a more obviously problematic term referring to the vulnerable and subservient side of such power differentials – which, even when referenced indirectly, can easily inspire a sense of ostracization in already marginalized individuals and groups. Unfortunately, the master/slave analogy has become commonplace in IT over the past century to describe component relationships in system communication, controls, and processes, and has been identified as one of many instances of non-inclusive language in OIT-managed systems and services.
The DataMASTER name is a clearcut example of such non-inclusive language, and we happen to already have an alternative term available that is both more inclusive and more accurate. In addition to numerous other technology organizations seeking alternatives to the long-used “master” and “slave” naming conventions, similar renaming efforts have been undertaken in recent years in a variety of other sectors, including in the arts (e.g., masterpiece, the “old master” painters), real estate (master vs primary bedroom/bathroom), and institutions of higher education (house master vs faculty dean). OIT is proud to be among those making this change for the better.
Although the former URL will remain active until our next Cognos upgrade on September 14, you can go ahead and say goodbye to DataMASTER now, and next time you need to run that report you can find it at cognos.pdx.edu.