I expect you are referring to Kimball's "Dimensional Modeling" patterns. The concepts described by Kimball are fairly unsophisticated and limited in their application. There are much better sources on temporal modeling problems such as the Snodgrass book already mentioned or the Date, Darwen and Lorentzos' book:

http://www.amazon.com/Temporal-Relational-Kaufmann-Management-Systems/dp/1558608559