n.systematic tracking of modifications to documents, especially as a feature of automated document managementLandis and Royce 1995, 18The original version on the server remains unchanged except that the software changes its name to indicate that it is an older version. The new version is added back using the original name, reducing the potential confusion associated with version control.Gilliland-Swetland 1995, 46User capabilities to create a document on a computer, send it electronically to one or more second parties, who in turn may modify it, add graphics, and so forth, make the establishment of provenance and version control problematic.Ruller 1995, 215These guidelines seek to help office staff address the problems of version control, access and retrieval of electronic files, and efficient use of resources.Yakel 2007a, 160While these examples may seem inelegant in our age of word processing and obsessive formatting, enabling the researcher to view these changes is important. Having version control of finding aids helps archivists to visualize the growing understanding of their collections and to see the convergences among and within collections. As we move more aggressively into the digital domain, examining means of making this evolution transparent is important.Saffady 2009, 198Version control. Content management software can track successive revisions of electronic records. Revision histories are tracked, and the latest versions of word processing documents, spreadsheets, presentations, CAD files, and other digital content will be clearly identified.Hellar 2015Version control is a system for managing changes made to documents and other computer files.
Notes
Software, such as a document management application, usually handles version control. Such programs often can maintain previous drafts or versions of a document. In computer programming, version control provides similar functions, but mostly operates on portions of code within a single application.
