Documentation

Documentation is any communicable material that is used to describe, explain or instruct regarding some attributes of an object, system or procedure, such as its parts, assembly, installation, maintenance and use.^[1] Documentation can be provided on paper, online, or on digital or analog media, such as audio tape or CDs. Examples are user guides, white papers, online help, and quick-reference guides. Paper or hard-copy documentation has become less common.^{[citation needed]} Documentation is often distributed via websites, software products, and other online applications.

Documentation as a set of instructional materials shouldn't be confused with documentation science, the study of the recording and retrieval of information.

Principles for producing documentation

While associated ISO standards are not easily available publicly, a guide from other sources for this topic may serve the purpose.^{[2],[3],[4][5]}

Documentation development may involve document drafting, formatting, submitting, reviewing, approving, distributing, reposting and tracking, etc., and are convened by associated SOPs in a regulatory industry. It could also involve creating content from scratch. Documentation should be easy to read and understand. If it's too long and too wordy, it may be misunderstood or ignored. Clear, concise words should be used, and sentences should be limited to a maximum of 15 words. Documentation intended for a general audience should avoid gender-specific terms and cultural biases. In a series of procedures, steps should be clearly numbered.^{[6],[7],[8],[9]}

Producing documentation

Technical writers and corporate communicators are professionals whose field and work is documentation. Ideally, technical writers have a background in both the subject matter and also in writing, managing content, and information architecture. Technical writers more commonly collaborate with subject matter experts (SMEs), such as engineers, technical experts, medical professionals, etc. to define and then create documentation to meet the user's needs. Corporate communications includes other types of written documentation, for example:

• Market communications (MarCom): MarCom writers endeavor to convey the company's value proposition through a variety of print, electronic, and social media. This area of corporate writing is often engaged in responding to proposals.
• Technical communication (TechCom): Technical writers document a company's product or service. Technical publications can include user guides, installation and configuration manuals, and troubleshooting and repair procedures.
• Legal writing: This type of documentation is often prepared by attorneys or paralegals.
• Compliance documentation: This type of documentation codifies Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), for any regulatory compliance needs, as for safety approval, taxation, financing, technical approval, and all
• Healthcare documentation: This field of documentation encompasses the timely recording and validation of events that have occurred during the course of providing health care.^[10]

Documentation in computer science

Documentation in criminal justice

"Documentation" is the preferred term for the process of populating criminal databases. Examples include the National Counter-terrorism Center's Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment ("TIDE"), sex offender registries, and gang databases.^[12]

Documentation in early childhood education

Documentation, as it pertains to the early childhood education field, is "when we notice and value children's ideas, thinking, questions, and theories about the world and then collect traces of their work (drawings, photographs of the children in action, and transcripts of their words) to share with a wider community"^[13]

Thus, documentation is a process, used to link the educator's knowledge and learning of the child/children with the families, other collaborators, and even to the children themselves.

Documentation is an integral part of the cycle of inquiry - observing, reflecting, documenting, sharing and responding.^[13]

Pedagogical documentation, in terms of the teacher documentation, is the "teacher's story of the movement in children's understanding".^[13] According to Stephanie Cox Suarez in 'Documentation - Transforming our Perspectives', "teachers are considered researchers, and documentation is a research tool to support knowledge building among children and adults"^[14]

Documentation can take many different styles in the classroom. The following exemplifies ways in which documentation can make the 'research', or learning, visible:

1. Documentation Panels (bulletin-board-like presentation with multiple pictures and descriptions about the project or event).
2. Daily Log (a log kept every day that records the play and learning in the classroom)
3. Documentation developed by or with the children (when observing children during documentation, the child's lens of the observation is used in the actual documentation)
4. Individual Portfolios (documentation used to track and highlight the development of each child)
5. Electronic Documentation (using apps and devices to share documentation with families and collaborators)
6. Transcripts or Recordings of Conversations (using recording in documentation can bring about deeper reflections for both the educator and the child)
7. Learning Stories (a narrative used to "describe learning and help children see themselves as powerful learners"^[13])
8. The Classroom as Documentation (reflections and documentation of the physical environment of a classroom).^[13]

Documentation is certainly a process in and of itself, and it is also a process within the educator. The following is the development of documentation as it progresses for and in the educator themselves:

• Develop(s) habits of documentation
• Become(s) comfortable with going public with recounting of activities
• Develop(s) visual literacy skills
• Conceptualize(s) the purpose of documentation as making learning styles visible, and
• Share(s) visible theories for interpretation purposes and further design of curriculum.^[15]

See also

References

External links

Look up documentation in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• IEEE Professional Communication Society
• Documentation Definition by The Linux Information Project (LINFO)
• Information & Documentation List of selected tools
• Library of articles on documentation: Technical writing and documentation articles