Actor - a principle stakeholder in a case study. Beep focuses on two types of actor: a contributor and a beneficiary.

Advanced search - a method of searching the Beep database. This search method combines all the other search options in one interface so you can search for any combination of search criteria. Altogether users can select from 24 settings and apply AND, OR and NOR settings. A simplified route through advanced search is through the step-by-step advanced search interface.

Analysis interface - a key factor analysis menu for Beep users. One output lists cases having the selected key factor and shows other key factors recorded for each case, with or without relevance scores. Another output is a radar diagram. The key factor analysis menu is not available in the public user interface.

Basic search - the simplest method of searching the Beep database using only a few parameters. Users can select from objective search, knowledge map search, keyword search and free text search. Contrast with advanced search and domain search.

Beep - Best eEurope Practices. The Beep project collects, analyses and refines good (best) practices through case studies in the Beep domains.

Beep database - a structured information repository that holds data for Beep cases. The database is implemented using MySQL open source software. It is the core component of the Beep knowledge system. Full database facilities, such as adding new cases and using the analysis interface are not accessible from the public user interface, but only to Beep users with the appropriate privileges to access the user database.

Beep (case) dimension - a logical view of the Beep database from a particular perspective. The Beep database is built around three core dimensions - the knowledge map, case characteristics and report structure.

Beep knowledge map - specific hierarchic taxonomy of the domain of interest where ePractices can make a difference. The knowledge map hierarchy comprises domains, objectives and key factors. See also Beep structure.

Beep knowledge system - the technical infrastructure for delivery of online Beep services. It includes the Beep database, search tools and Beep learning resources which are accessible from the public interface, and also the user database.

Beep learning resources - supporting materials that complement the Beep database. They include domain background information, results of analyses and links to external resources.

Beep services - best practice guidance, benchmarking management and administration, and access to extensive and linked knowledge bases covering selected issues in eEurope.

Beep structure - the hierarchical layers within the Beep project: domain, objective, key factor and indicator. A specific structure is usually represented by a Beep knowledge map.

Beep tools and services - facilities that help users make optimum use of the Beep database. These include o line software tools and also advisory services offered by Beep partners.

Beep user - a category of user. A Beep user is a person or organization interested in learning from best practice by using the Beep database. Typical users are policy makers, government departments, social partners, industry, NGOs. Contrast with end user (customer).

Benchlearning - a process of learning through benchmarking. Benchmarking identifies gaps in performance, but is merely a a starting point. This is followed by a programme of learning from good practice. While the Beep database does allow quantitative benchmarking comparisons through analysis of indicators associated with key factors, many users will find most benefits are derived from the qualitative descriptions and lessons learnt that act as a source of inspiration and learning.

Benchmarking - the process of comparing indicators of a user's own performance with those of other cases, especially those with higher scores. Benchmarking leads on to reviewing the good practices used by others to learn how their own organisation's performance can be improved and help it successfully achieve its objectives through benchlearning. See also diagnostic benchmarking, qualitative benchmarking and quantitative benchmarking.

Beneficiary - a person, institution or other grouping of people that benefits from the actions described in a case. One type of actor. See also contributor).

Best practice - the best examples of practice, e.g. which methods, tools, organisation, systems, technology, etc., were used to achieve the excellent performance seen. Such examples should also imply ease of transfer to other situations where users have similar objectives and should facilitate learning by them. Since 'best' is highly subjective and context dependent, as well as implying that no further improvements are possible, the preferred term now used is good practice.

Case (study) - the description of a specific situation and application of methods, typically a programme or project. This may be within a single organisation or may be a pan-European project. A case study in Beep must use ICT as a necessary but not necessarily a sufficient tool. A case study must involve one or more objectives and a description of the activities (methods and processes) carried out in pursuit of these objectives. See also case family, head case and member case.

Case characteristic - an indicator that describes the context and setting for the case. Factors covered include timing, geographic setting, sector, size, ICT used, main actors, EU support classification, specific social groups, investment and costs. Formerly called case characteristic indicators.

Case coding - the process of taking case documentation and creating indicator scores for entry into the Beep database to characterise and evaluate a case study. Case codes include both case characterstics and case performance indicators. A sub-set of case processing.

Case contact - person(s) or representative(s) of organisation(s) who represent the case owner or case contributor and are authorised by the case owner or case contributor to receive and answer communications from the users of the Beep database about the case (or part of a case).

Case contributor - person(s) or representative(s) of organisation(s) who contribute the case (or part of a case) to Beep's case editor and who are so authorised by the case owner. Distinguish from the wider meaning of contributor.

Case description - - description of a case study that contains the following sections: background, objectives, resources, activities, output and results, lessons and conclusions, references and links, contact information, further information. It can apply to just one key factor in the case or to the full case. Contrast with case summary.

Case editor - person(s) representing the Beep team who are responsible for case processing and for liaising with the case contributor.

Case family - a group of related cases. For example, an overall e-commerce programme may be the head case and individual projects such as e-supply chain and e-CRM (Customer Relationship Management) member cases. Another example is a network which is itself treated as a case, and which also contains within it one or more organisations each of which is treated as a separate member case. Note that a case family may simply be a related collection of member cases.

Case input - input of all case information, including that for administrative purposes which is not visible on the public user interface.

Case owner - person(s) or representative(s) of organisation(s) who can legitimately claim ownership over the IPR (intellectual property rights) of a case (or part of a case) and who can authorise Beep to use agreed material for case processing.

Case performance indicator - a measure that assesses the success or otherwise of a case in meeting its objectives. Case performance indicators can include both internal activities and external impacts. Contrast with case characteristic. See also Beep structure.

Case processing - all activities necessary for selecting, researching, writing, editing, coding, uploading into the Beep database, and updating a case (or part of a case). See also case coding.

Case report - a comprehensive output of case information. As well as a full case decription, it includes characteristics, an executive summary and a case-specific knowledge map.

Case schema - a schema that applies to a specific set of cases. Cases can now be coded according to different templates. At present there are two different case schemas, one for Beep's initial four domains and another for a forthcoming set of eGovernment cases.

Case summary - see executive summary report.

Characteristic - common usage for case characteristic.

Characteristic search - one of five main methods of searching; users search cases matching defined case characteristics.

Community of policy - a set of actors whose primary interest is national and regional policy. They operate at one remove from the practitioners themselves. Contrast community of practice.

Community of practice (CoP) - a strong (or potentially strong) community of individuals or organisations who wish to cooperate to mutually develop their knowledge and exploitation of good practice.

Contributor - a person, institution or other grouping who is responsible for, or contributing to, the case - actors who have an interest or involvement in the case but are not the ultimate beneficiaries of it (these can include Beep users, i.e. those who will use the Beep services). The other type of Beep actor is a beneficiary. Distinguish from the narrow term case contributor, a person who provides case documentation to the Beep team.

Database - a structured set of data. See Beep database.

Diagnostic benchmarking - providing classical benchmarking in which cases (through the key factors they consist of) are scored and compared using both quantitative and qualitative indicators. The user can directly measure and compare case performance on one or more selected indicators. In addition, the user can score his or her own case and benchmark this against cases in the database.

Digital divide - a term that refers to the gaps in access to information and communication technologies and networks, either because of lack of economic resources or lack of skills.

Digital SME (domain) - a small to medium enterprise that exploits ICT to its full potential in a holistic manner, e.g. changing products and services, changing markets, changing relationships with customers, new types of value chain and forms of cooperation and alliance, new organisational and management configurations, new ways to manage knowledge, etc. Digital SME is one of Beep's four domains.

Dimension - See Beep dimension.

Domain - an area of interest. Beep initially has four domains, each of strong relevance to the eEurope Initiative (2000-2002) and comprising two pairs of complementary domains:

i) work and skills - focus on best practice to enhance work and skills in organisations through the use of ICT  (supply side, individuals and how they work - not labour market)

ii) the digital SME - focus on best practice in how SMEs can exploit the opportunities provided  by ICT to improve their performance.

iii) social inclusion - focus on best practice to narrow the digital divide expressed in terms of income, gender, age, ability and ethnicity.

iv) regional development - focus on best practice in the use of ICT to support and promote welfare and wealth as part of an integrated geographical approach expressed at a local/regional scale involving regional/local actors.

See also Beep structure.

Domain search - a search whose output is a list of all cases available in the given domain. Not one of the main search methods (c.f. basic search, advanced search) and therefore accessed from the relevant domain pages rather than the Beep knowledge system Home & News.

eEconomy - that part of the economy significantly influenced by ICT; a large part of the traditional economy has migrated towards such an economy.

eEurope - an initiative launched at the European Council meeting summit in Lisbon, 23-24 March 2000, focusing upon employment, economic reform and social inclusion. Following the eEurope 2002 action plan, the eEurope 2005 action plan was launched in June 2002. There is also eEurope+, an initiative for Newly Associated States.

eGovernment (eGov) - a focus on the use of ICT in public administration, services and governance; this is a planned new domain of Beep coverage.

eLearning - learning through the use of online methods. eLearning features in many Beep cases and at one level can be used to describe the use of the Beep database as a benchlearning tool.

End user - a person who can benefit from the initiatives described by Beep e.g. SMEs, employees, disabled. These end-users need not be individuals, but can be businesses and organisations. See also user. Contrast with Beep user.

ePractice - a practice or method that relies heavily on the use of the Internet and similar online electronic networks. ePractices include e-commerce (electronic commerce), eWork (telework), elearning and eGov (electronic government).

eSociety - that part of society which is affected most by the introduction of ICT.

eWork - methods of work that rely heavily on the use of the Internet and similar online electronic networks. Encompasses telework.

Executive summary report - an executive summary of the full case description. Its sections are the timing of the case, geographic setting, type and use of ICT, main contributors, main beneficiaries, background, objectives, resources, activities, outputs and results, lessons and conclusions.

Free text search - a method of searching a Beep database seeking ordinary text words or phrases in any part of a case record. Free text search is one method of basic search.

Good practice - the use of a method, tool, technology etc. which is generally regarded as 'practices which are good for learning', i.e. practices which either achieve their own objectives and/or have a beneficial impact on their environment, or (and more important) provide useful learning experiences which are likely to stimulate creativity, ingenuity and self reflexivity on the part of the user. Contrast with best practice which has been shown to be the 'best' in a given situation as a result of benchmarking and other analyses. Beep now prefers this term to best practice, since best practice implies that there is no scope for improvement and may limit ambition.

Good practice overview - A Beep output that is a synthesis of key factors associated with an overall objective. Contrast with key factor analysis report.

Head case - the case (study) in a case family that provides the common description or an overview of the other lower-level cases (member cases) in the family.

ICT - see Information and Communications Technology.

Indicator - factors in a case that are capable of assessment, either as quantitative measure or a subjective evaluation. case characteristics are one one type of indicator. They indicate factors such as organization size and type and industry sector. Another type of indicator is a case performance indicator that allows the Beep user to review performance against objectives and their key factors. See also Beep structure.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) - for the purposes of Beep, ICT is any electronic technology (digital or analogue) involved in processing information and/or communicating between machines and/or sites.

Issue - a cluster of key factors into themes that appear to be important to the domains. These issues form different sections within the domain reports. Typically there are 4-5 issues per domain. An examples is managing knowledge in the work and skills domain. Note that most issues are also listed as keywords.

Key factor - a factor which is a key determinant of the outcome of a case. Each objective is divided into a number of key factors, each one attempting to capture different ways in which a given objective can be achieved. For best practice cases key factors are usually synonymous with critical success factors, but to maintain general applicability, this term was adopted in mid-2002 as the preferred term within the Beep structure.

Key factor analysis report - a report that is the result of analysing key factors across cases and domains to identify commonality and differences in activities and results.

Key factor search - a type of basic search in which the Beep database user can confine the search to those cases that contain specified key factors.

Keyword - an important issue or concept associated with a case. Each Beep case is coded with one or more keywords, of which there are around 100 in total. Examples are knowledge sharing, telework, communities of practice, innovation, alternative technology. Those keywords that relate directly to key factors are automatically coded on input. Others are entered manually.

Keyword search - a search on the Beep database that finds cases that are coded with the relevant keywords. One of the basic search methods.

Knowledge base - Beep's set of databases, comprising initially of the Beep database of good practice cases. A key component of the Beep knowledge system.

Knowledge map - see Beep knowledge map.

Knowledge map search - a search of cases that match selected objectives and their key factors within a Beep knowledge map. One of the basic search methods.

Knowledge system - see Beep knowledge system.

Learning practice - learning from good practice through reviewing the relevant cases - especially the lessons learned - in the Beep database. Learning practice also comprises a broader sequence of structured learning activities undertaken, for example, by a Community of Practice (CoP). Learning practice has some elements in common with benchlearning, but is focused more around the symbiotic interplay between on-line knowledge systems (like Beep) with face-to-face workshops and peer dialogue techniques.

Member case - a lower level case within a case family. For example, several member cases may cover projects within an organization that may be related to a head case about an over-riding programme.

Metric - the actual measure of a quantitative indicator. Sometimes the two terms are used synonymously.

Newly Associated States (NAS) - the following twelve countries who are either new member states or applicant states: Cyprus, Malta, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Objective - what a user is trying to achieve. Every case has one or more objectives that are specified within the definitions of a domain. See also Beep structure.

Objective search - now replaced by knowledge map search since both objectives and key factors are shown.

Peer learning - an approach that involves working with communities of practice, developing learning 'journeys', etc. This can also be called 'learning from within', i.e. not trying to replicate what others have done (because there are no panaceas and no two places or situations are the same), but replicating their creativity, ingenuity and reflexivity in order to develop and implement new ideas whilst reducing the risk.

Public user - a general user of the Beep database. A public user is able to search for and access all cases, good practice overviews (and later other facilities, such as benchlearning templates, links, etc.) and apply various tools. However, unlike those closely involved with the project, they do not have privileges to edit the Beep database directly.

Public user interface - the interface to the Beep database for a public user via the Internet.

Qualitative benchmarking - the use of benchmarking to compare activities and results across cases in a qualitative manner. For this, reading full case reports for organisations with comparable case characteristics are likely to provide fruitful sources of learning.

Quantitative benchmarking - the use of benchmarking to compare case performance indicators across different cases. The numerical differences between cases phighlights areas warranting further investigation to identify what contributes to good practice.

Radar diagram - a radial diagram that compares a case's score on a key factor and the cases that scored the highest. One of the output displays in the analysis interface.

Regional development (domain) - a focus on the new role of regions in the New Economy and Information Society. It recognises geographic, language and cultural diversity as important assets, which can complement trends towards the Europeanisation and globalisation of the economy. It is one of Beep's four initial domains.

Registration page - a Web page to register for access to the Beep database. Although users can view search result summaries and other pages without registering, they are not able to access the details of any cases selected, nor access any definitions in the Beep knowledge map.

Relevance score - how relevant a search result is, based on the search terms. The score is a result of statistical calculations e.g. how many times the terms appear in the case description. The score relates to the relevance of the case to that particular key factor and goes from 0 (no relevance) to 4 (most) relevant.

Report structure - the elements of a case report such as background, objectives, resrouces, activities, results etc. One of the three core case dimensions.

Services - see Beep services.

SME (Small to Medium Enterprise) - enterprises with less than 250 employees and a turnover of less than 40 million Euros. Divided into micro enterprises (less than 10 employees), small size (11-50 employees) and medium (51-250).

Social inclusion (domain) - participation of all European citizens in the digital economy because they have the information tools and skills that are necessary. Achieving social inclusion depends on mitigation of the digital divide (between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’). It encompasses not just technology literacy, skills and competence but also access, affordability and awareness issues. It is one of Beep's four initial domains.

Social partner - a term used by the European Commission for employers' and employee organisations who engage with the Commission in a dialogue with a view to developing a common approach to EU economic and social polocies. It encompasses Trade Unions, Trade Associations, Chamber of Commerce, and (peripherally) Professional Associations.

Stakeholder - a person or organization that has an interest in the Beep knowledge base but for whom the domain material and tools are not directly designed. Compare with a user.

Statistical Analysis Tool - a planned statistical tool available either in the Beep database and/or in the Beep knowledge system to support database interrogation on characteristics and generate statistical analyses with bar charts and summarised data tables.

Step-by-step advanced search - one of the ways to search a Beep database which gives full access to the search parameters of the advanced search, but guides the searcher through the options in a sequence of straightforward steps. See also basic search.

Study - an analytical piece of work that may include surveys or analysis of a group of case studies. Contrast with case study which is an individal situation or programme. Both are entered as cases within the Beep database.

Summary report - see Executive summary report

User - A user is someone who uses Beep's services (a Beep user) or who can benefit from the initiatives described by Beep (end user). See also stakeholder.

User database - the database that stores user inputs. Inputs will come from a sub-set of Beep users who score their organisations on CFSs and its characteristics. Each user will be able to input his/her data and store it in this database. After validation by the Beep team these cases are added to the best practices database.

User dialogue - factilities that enable users to enter a dialogue with case editors and other users. For example, users can add comments at the bottom of each case by clicking on "Add a comment to this case" or "Reply to this comment".

Work and Skills (domain) - focus on best practice to enhance work and skills in organisations through the use of ICT. Work and skills is one of Beep's four initial domains.