Dictionary definition(s) for: documentation

• n., All material that serves primarily to describe a system and make it more readily understandable, rather than to contribute in some way to the actual operation of the system. Documentation is frequently classified according to purpose; thus for a given system there may be requirements documents, design documents, and so on. In contrast to documentation oriented toward development and maintenance of the system, user documentation describes those aspects of the system that are of interest to end-users.
  [ Computer and Information Sciences - A Dictionary of Computing ]
  A Dictionary of Computing. Oxford University Press, 2004. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. University of British Columbia. 4 August 2006 http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t11.e1518
• n., The organization and processing of documents or data including location, identification, acquisition, analysis, storage, retrieval, presentation and circulation for the information of users.
  [ Archives - Dictionary of Archival Terminology ]
  Dictionary of Archival Terminology. 2nd rev. ed. Edited by Peter Walne. New York: K.G. Saur, 1988.
• n., Use broadly for the gathering and recording of information, especially to establish or provide evidence of facts or testimony. For the organizing and controlling of information, use "information management." For the records of information, regardless of medium or characteristics, either created specifically as records of information or used as such at some time subsequent to their creation, use "documents."
  [ Arts - Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) ]
  J. Paul Getty Trust. Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT). Los Angeles, CA: J. Paul Getty Trust, 2005. http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_reseach/vocabularies/aat/