Information life cycle
Information in the colloquial sense contains among other things data, news, and knowledge. Any information follows a life cycle that goes from original creation until oblivion. The change of information can be seen with city names: St. Petersburg, Petrograd, and Leningrad. Each phase in the life of information requires other activities. The information life cycle essentially clarifies the substantial uses of information.
The information life cycle includes: generate, process, update, store, re-use and delete.
Generate
Generating information needs an adequate explanation that describes the information in such a way that others understand the information. The regular use of new information under avoidance of additional synonyms supports the understanding and a fast spreading in the organization.
Process
Processing information should follow certain rules, which guarantee that the desired result is obtained. The processing rules contain mainly additional meanings and rules for interpretation, which should be documented clearly.
Update
Similar to generating the information, update renews the information and requires therefore an adequate, new description that describes the information clearly and emphasizes the changes to the original meaning. The consistent use of the new meaning is important.
Store
It is important to store all relevant elements of the information. It is difficult to avoid redundant storing and to always keep the same structure. As soon as inconsistencies become visible, these should be eliminated pro-actively.
Re-use
Re-use is another variation of generating, which requires that an adequate description of the information be provided, and additionally the origin is clarified. The consistent use of the information is important.
Delete
When information are deleted, all occurrences should be completely eliminated in the operative systems. Nevertheless considering the fact that information is a meme that has its own way of replicating in the minds of people, it is recommended to archive definitions. This facilitates for a long time the determination of the original meaning and structure.