Glossary – L

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Labor-hour contract

A type of contract in which a fixed amount is paid for each hour of work performed by a specific labor class.

Lag

A modification to a logical relationship that directs a delay in the successor task. See also Lead.

Laggards

One of five adopter categories. Describes individuals who embrace change and adopt new technologies only when there are few or no alternatives. See also adopter categories, early adopters, early majority, innovators, late majority.

Laminate

A thin transparent plastic sheet applied to protect paper stock from liquids and heavy use.

LAN

Local area network.

Landing page

The first page displayed when a person links to a web site. See also gateway page.

Landscape

A page that is wider than it is tall. See also portrait.

Late finish date (LF)

In the critical path method, the latest possible point in time at which an activity can be completed without delaying a specific milestone (usually, the project finish date).

Late majority

One of five adopter categories. Describes individuals who embrace change and adopt new technologies after they perceive that a majority of others have done so. See also adopter categories, early adopters, early majority, innovators, laggards.

Late start date (LS)

at a later time. Also referred to as a view through.

Layout

A drawing that indicates the intended placement of text and graphics on a page.

LC

Lowercase.

LD

Lean development.

Lead

A modification of a logical relationship that allows an acceleration of the successor task.

Leader

A line of dots or dashes that lead the eye across a page to related text. Also called dot leader, dash leader.

Leadership styles

A variety of styles that effective leaders use, based on circumstances, to elicit the desired response or performance. See also achievement-oriented leadership, action-centered leadership, affiliative leadership, autocratic leadership, coaching leadership, commanding leadership, covert leadership, democratic leadership, directive leadership, pacesetting leadership, participative leadership, results-based leadership, situational leadership, supportive leadership, visionary leadership.

Leading

In typography, the space between lines of type.

Leaf

One sheet of paper in a publication.

Lean development

A methodology that focuses on building change-tolerant software with 2/3 less human effort, development time, and financial investment that a CMM Level 3 organization would typically achieve. See also project management methodologies.

Lean manufacturing

A management philosophy that focuses on reducing seven wastes—transportation, inventory, motion, wait time, over-production, processing, and defective products—to improve quality and reduce production time and costs.

Learnability

The degree to which a user can learn an interface. See also readability, usability.

Learning design

The concept that people learn better when actively involved in doing something, and learning activities can be structured to promote more effective learning.

Learning management system (LMS)

An application used to plan, implement, and assess learning processes.

Learning object

A small, self-contained, re-usable unit of learning.

Learning objectives

See performance objectives.

Learning organization

An organization that facilitates learning for all its members.

+Left justified

See flush left.

Legacy content

Information to be moved from one format or system to another.

Legacy data (or system)

Information created and used before introduction of a replacement system. See also data types.

Legend

See caption.

Lessons learned

The learning gained from the process of performing the project.

Letter spacing

See character spacing.

Level of effort (LOE)

Support activity (for example, vendor or customer liaison) that does not readily lend itself to measurement of discrete accomplishment. It is generally characterized by a uniform rate of activity over a specific period of time.

Level of significance

In statistics, the probability of a Type I error; that is, that the relationship of two things will be rejected when it is true.

Leveling

See resource leveling.

Levels of edit

The definition of a series of technical editing types, from the simplest to the most substantive.

LF

Late finish date.

Liabilities

A claim on the assets of a corporation or individual. Corporation liabilities carried on the balance sheet include current (short term) liabilities (such as notes payable in 90 days, or accrued wages, owed but not yet paid to employees), and long term liabilities (such as 5-year, 10-year, or longer-term notes or bonds sold to the public).

Libel

See defamation.

License

Permission granted to a third party to use your intellectual property in exchange for some consideration or benefit.

Life cycle

A generic term covering all phases of acquisition, operation, and logistics support of a product, beginning with concept definition and continuing through disposal of the item, that an organization can use to guide business planning. The four phases in a product’s useful life are defined as introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. Also called product life cycle.

Life cycle cost

The overall estimated cost for a particular program alternative over the time period corresponding to the life of the program, including direct and indirect initial costs plus any periodic or continuing costs of operation, maintenance, and disposal/retirement. See also cost types.

Life cycle management

A comprehensive approach to managing a product or system from creation to obsolescence.

Life cycle phase

A defined period during the life of a product. See also life cycle.

Lightness

See value.

Lightwave 3D (NewTek)

A high-end 3D design, animation, and modeling application.

Likert scale

A range of agreement or disagreement with a survey question, where the numerical scores and the intervals between them do not have any intrinsic meaning.

Line spacing

See leading.

Linguablog

A blog oriented toward linguistics and translation. See also blog types.

Link

A selectable reference from one word, picture, or information object to another.

LinkedIn

A social networking site that allows users to build a professional network of trusted contacts.

List

A vertical series of related items. See also bulleted list, numbered list.

Listserv

A mailing list that automatically distributes information to subscribers via email.

Lithography

A printing process in which an image rendered on a metal plate attracts ink and other areas repel ink.

Literal translation

See verbatim translation.

Litmus test

A test that uses a single key indicator to form a decision.

Litotes

An understatement intensified by denying its opposite. See also rhetorical strategies.

LMS

Learning management system.

Load testing

See stress testing.

Loaded rates

Charges for human and material resources that incorporate hourly and per-use charges and all additional general and administrative costs associated with their use.

Local area network (LAN)

A network that connects computers and other devices within a relatively small area.

Localization

Creating or customizing a product or service for a specific regional or local market. See also globalization, glocalization, internationalization, translation.

LOE

Level of effort.

Logical relationship

A dependency between two project activities, or between a project activity and a milestone. See also finish-to-finish, finish-to-start, precedence relationship, start-to-finish, start-to-start.

Logistics management

The process of strategically managing the purchasing, movement, and storage of materials, parts, and finished products (and related information) to minimize costs and maximize profitability.

Logo/logotype

The combination of graphical element and typeface that identify an organization, a trademark, or a commercial brand.

Longitudinal study

Research in which the same data is collected over a period of time to measure long-term effects or changes.

Look and feel

The way that a web site reflects branding and communication messages through the visual design (look) and the use experience (feel).

Loop testing

A white-box testing technique that exercises loops in a program.

Lose-lose negotiation

An outcome of conflict resolution that results in both parties being worse off than before. See also win-lose negotiation, win-win negotiation.

Lose-win negotiation

An outcome of conflict resolution in which one party’s gain is another party’s loss. See also lose-lose negotiation, win-lose negotiation, win-win negotiation.

Lowercase (LC)

All small letters (no capitals). See also uppercase.

LS

Late start date.

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