Documentation Task

A Documentation Task is an information creation task that systematically records information (to produce structured documents for knowledge preservation and information dissemination).

• AKA: Document Creation Task, Information Recording Task, Knowledge Documentation Task.
• Context:
  • Task Input: Source Information, Documentation Requirements, Documentation Templates
    • Optional Input: Domain Expertise, Style Guides, Compliance Standards
  • Task Output: Documentation Artifact, Structured Document, Knowledge Record
  • Task Performance Measure: Documentation Completeness, Documentation Accuracy, Documentation Clarity, Documentation Accessibility
  • ...
  • It can typically capture System Specifications through documentation methodology.
  • It can typically record Process Workflows using documentation notation.
  • It can typically preserve Institutional Knowledge via documentation framework.
  • It can typically create Reference Materials through documentation standard.
  • It can typically establish Information Architecture using documentation structure.
  • ...
  • It can often utilize Documentation Tools for documentation automation.
  • It can often follow Documentation Standards for documentation consistency.
  • It can often implement Version Control through documentation management system.
  • It can often support Knowledge Transfer via documentation accessibility feature.
  • ...
  • It can range from being a Simple Documentation Task to being a Complex Documentation Task, depending on its documentation scope.
  • It can range from being a Manual Documentation Task to being an Automated Documentation Task, depending on its documentation generation method.
  • It can range from being a Technical Documentation Task to being a User Documentation Task, depending on its documentation audience.
  • It can range from being a Formal Documentation Task to being an Informal Documentation Task, depending on its documentation structure requirement.
  • ...
  • It can be supported by Summarization Tasks for documentation content synthesis.
  • It can integrate with Information Extraction Tasks for documentation source processing.
  • It can coordinate with Quality Assurance Tasks for documentation validation.
  • ...
• Examples:
  • Technical Documentation Tasks, such as:
    • Software Documentation Tasks, such as:
      • API Documentation Task for application programming interface specification.
      • Code Documentation Task for source code annotation.
      • Architecture Documentation Task for system design record.
    • Engineering Documentation Tasks, such as:
      • Product Specification Documentation Task for engineering requirement capture.
      • Safety Documentation Task for hazard analysis record.
      • Maintenance Documentation Task for equipment service procedure.
  • Research Documentation Tasks, such as:
    • Scientific Documentation Tasks, such as:
      • Experiment Documentation Task for research methodology record.
      • Dataset Documentation Task for data collection description.
      • Protocol Documentation Task for research procedure standardization.
    • Academic Documentation Tasks, such as:
      • Thesis Documentation Task for doctoral research presentation.
      • Literature Review Documentation Task for research synthesis.
      • Grant Proposal Documentation Task for research funding application.
  • Business Documentation Tasks, such as:
    • Process Documentation Tasks, such as:
      • Standard Operating Procedure Documentation Task for business process standardization.
      • Workflow Documentation Task for operational sequence capture.
      • Policy Documentation Task for organizational rule formalization.
    • Project Documentation Tasks, such as:
      • Requirements Documentation Task for project scope definition.
      • Risk Documentation Task for project hazard identification.
      • Lessons Learned Documentation Task for project knowledge capture.
  • Specialized Documentation Tasks, such as:
    • Medical Documentation Tasks, such as:
      • Patient Record Documentation Task for clinical information management.
      • Clinical Trial Documentation Task for research protocol compliance.
      • Regulatory Submission Documentation Task for healthcare approval process.
    • Legal Documentation Tasks, such as:
      • Contract Documentation Task for legal agreement formalization.
      • Case Documentation Task for legal proceeding record.
      • Compliance Documentation Task for regulatory requirement demonstration.
    • Knowledge Base Documentation Tasks, such as:
      • Ontology Documentation Task for conceptual framework description.
      • Taxonomy Documentation Task for classification system record.
      • Metadata Documentation Task for information context capture.
  • ...
• Counter-Examples:
  • Design Task, which creates new solutions rather than documenting existing information.
  • Analysis Task, which examines data patterns rather than recording information structure.
  • Implementation Task, which executes planned actions rather than documenting process details.
  • Communication Task, which conveys immediate messages rather than creating permanent records.
• See: Curation Task, Annotation Task, Documentation System, Information Architecture, Technical Writing, Knowledge Management Task, Content Management System.

---

---

References

2009

• http://kdd.ics.uci.edu/doc/task.form Guidelines for Documenting Data Sets: TASK INFORMATION

---