In the lexicon of the conservation profession, the word documentation occupies a fundamental place.
Documentation is information.
In conservation, this information can take many forms. The documentation of a painting, for example, might be the meticulous description of its present condition, accounts of past conservation, restoration, analysis, and diagnosis, or a thorough graphic, photographic, and narrative record of all work undertaken on the painting. It provides information that serves as the basis for comparison with subsequent monitoring or as the starting place for an intervention of some kind. A physician would never recommend surgery without assessing a patient's history, symptoms, and condition. Preserving and protecting a cultural resource is impossible without reliable information on its condition and without the ability to monitor change.