Documentation

Documentation is an essential aspect of information sharing. When any information is created, it is created for a specific purpose and usually within a specific context - to report on an activity, to monitor a change etc. When that information is shared, as envisaged by the (Revised) PSI Directive, that context is likely to be lost. Think of it as a set of answers without the questions.

To be useful outside the original context, potential users will want to know things like why was information gathered/created? How was it done? What assumptions were made? and so on.

The following Best Practices offer guidance on the issue of data documentation.