Dokumentere

Dokumentere is a verb used in Danish and Norwegian Bokmål to mean to document, or to record information or evidence in a structured form. The act involves creating written records, photographs, diagrams, databases, or other media that capture events, procedures, data, or decisions. The term is common in fields such as research, engineering, journalism, and governance, where documentation supports transparency, reproducibility, and accountability.

Etymology and usage notes: The word derives from the Latin documentum, via the shared European heritage of the term document. In Norwegian and Danish, the infinitive is dokumentere; in Swedish the equivalent form is dokumentera. The English cognate is “to document,” and the noun “documentation” refers to the collection of documents and the act of documenting.

Practice and standards: Documenting typically involves identifying sources, describing methods, recording data, and preserving provenance with metadata, authorship, version history, and timestamps. Good documentation emphasizes clarity, accessibility, and maintainability and may follow established practices in records management, technical writing, or industry standards and guidelines.

Applications: In research, documentation records methods and results to enable replication. In software development, it includes code comments, API references, user manuals, and release notes. In journalism and law, documentation supports evidence gathering and accountability. In project management, documentation tracks scope, decisions, and compliance.

Challenges and quality considerations: Documentation can be time-consuming, and poor or outdated records undermine reliability. Common issues include incomplete provenance, ambiguity, unauthorized edits, and privacy constraints. Effective dokumentering aims for accuracy, completeness, and verifiability, supported by clear structure, controlled access, and version control.