Building Program Documentation a Brick at a Time

摘要

Bricks are universally useful. As long as they are not bonded in place, they may migrate from doorstops, to bookcases, to ballast, to missiles, to stepping stones, to patios, to dividers along flower beds and around trees. However, once mortared in place, it requires herculean efforts to dismantle and reuse them. We live in a world of change. Doesn't it make sense to build a documentation program from loose bricks instead of rigid structures? Such a series of procedures, diagrams, pictures, and videos would allow you to: (1) Describe and manage your program (2) Comply with the auditing criteria of accreditating and regulating bodies (3) Demonstrate control of your test, process, and analytical equipment (4) Validate the process limits necessary to make quality products (5) Train new personnel and document their training (6) Become cost effective in the allocation of resources If I asked you to describe some documents, what would come to your mind? (1) A book? A contract? A purchase order? (2) An IRS form 1040 and its instructions? (3) ANSI/NCSL Z540-1-1994 for Calibration Laboratories and........? (4) A "Last Will and Testiment"? (5) A calibration procedure? When we think of documents and documentation, we generally think of words. Who produces documents? Lawyers, technical writers, politicians, and engineers probably do more than their share when it comes to generating words. What about photographers, computer programs that generate graphs from data, or map, film, or video producers? Are their products documents?