documentation for other uses see documentation disambiguation the multivolume programmers manual to a 1975 operating system called cb unix documentation is a set of documents provided on paper or online or on digital or analog media such as audio tape or cds examples are user guides white papers online help quickreference guides it is becoming less common to see paper hardcopy documentation documentation is distributed via websites software products and other online applications professionals educated in this field are termed documentalists this field changed its name to information science in 1968 but some uses of the term documentation still exists and there have been efforts to reintroduce the term documentation as a field of study 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 guidelines the following is a list of guides dealing with each specific field and type documentation in health care thesis writing further information dissertation papers for academic journal publishing ie journal of food science procedures and techniques the procedures of documentation vary from one sector or one type to another in general these 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 its too long and too wordy it may be misunderstood or ignored clear short familiar words should be used to a maximum of 15 words to a sentence only gender hyper neutral word should be used and cultural biases should be avoided procedures should be numbered when they are to be performed 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 and managing content information architecture technical writers more commonly collaborate with subject matter experts smes such as engineers technical experts medical professionals or other types of clients to define and then create content documentation that meets the users needs corporate communications includes other types of written documentation that is required for most companies specializing documentation marketing communications marcom marcom writers endeavor to convey the companys 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 companys product or service technical publication include user guides installation an configuration manuals and troubleshootingrepairreplace procedures legal writing this type of documentation is often prepared by attorneys or paralegals who could be in private practice or retained as corporate council compliance documentation this type of documentation codifies standard operating procedures sops for any regulatory compliance needs as for safety approval taxation financing technical approval etc indexing index database index search engine documentation in computer science software documentation the following are typical software documentation types request for proposal rfp requirements statement of work scope of work sow software design and functional specification system design and functional specifications change management error and enhancement tracking user acceptance testing manpages perldocs the following are typical hardware and service documentation types network diagrams network maps datasheet for it systems server switch eg service catalog and service portfolio itil documentation include such as feasibility report technical documentation operational documentation log book etc tools for documenting software there are many types of software and applications used to create documentation software documentation folder sdf a common type of software document written by software engineers in the simulation industry is the sdf when developing software for a simulator which can range from embedded avionics devices to 3d terrain databases by way of full motion control systems the engineer keeps a notebook detailing the development the build of the project or module the document can be a wiki page ms word document or other environment they should contain a requirements section an interface section to detail the communication interface of the software often a notes section is used to detail the proof of concept and then track errors and enhancements finally a testing section to document how the software was tested this documents conformance to the clients requirements the result is a detailed description of how the software is designed how to build and install the software on the target device and any known defects and workarounds this build document enables future developers and maintainers to come up to speed on the software in a timely manner and also provides a roadmap to modifying code or searching for bugs software for network inventory and configuration cmdb these software tools can automatically collect data of your network equipment the data could be for inventory and for configuration information the itil library requests to create such a database as a basis for all information for the it responsible its also the basis for it documentation examples include xia configuration documentation in criminal justice documentation is the preferred term for the process of populating criminal databases examples include the national counterterrorism centers terrorist identities datamart environment tide sex offender registries and gang databases documentation in early childhood education documentation as it pertains to the early childhood education field is when we notice and value childrens 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 thusly documentation is a process used to link the educators knowledge and learning of the childchildren 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 pedagogical documentation in terms of the teacher documentation is the teachers story of the movement in childrens understanding documentation can take many different styles in the classroom the following exemplifies ways in which documentation can make the research or learning visible documentation panels bulletinboardlike presentation with multiple pictures and descriptions about the project or event daily log a log kept every day that records the play and learning in the classroom documentation developed by or with the children when observing children during documentation the childs lens of the observation is used in the actual documentation individual portfolios documentation used to track and highlight the development of each child electronic documentation using apps and devices to share documentation with families and collaborators transcripts or recordings of conversations using recording in documentation can bring about deeper reflections for both the educator and the child learning stories a narrative used to describe learning and help children see themselves as powerful learners the classroom as documentation reflections and documentation of the physical environment of a classroom 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 habits of documentation become comfortable with going public with recounting of activities develop visual literacy skills conceptualize the purpose of documentation as making learning styles visible and share authoring bibliographic control change control citation index copyright description document documentation field documentation science document identifier document management system documentary freedom of information glossary historical document index publishing iso 23841977 iso 2591984 iso 51231984 iso 36021989 iso 63571985 iso 690 iso 5964 iso 9001 iec 61355 international standard bibliographic description journal of documentation licensing letterhead list of contents technical documentation manual disambiguation medical certificate publishing records management software documentation style guide technical communication notes 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 authority control gnd 40126560 lccn sh85038731 ndl 00561677 