Glossary · Document and evidence governance
Authoritative source boundary
In information governance, an authoritative source boundary is a rule defining which system or record is authoritative for each type of information and where that authority ends. Outside the boundary, a copy is only a reference and must not be edited or relied on as the original.
- Technical documentation
- Compliance
In one sentence
An authoritative source boundary states which system is authoritative for each information type, and where copies stop being reliable.
Example
For a conveyor system, the PLM is authoritative for part numbers, the safety documentation for stopping times and the CCMS for warning texts; the service portal only shows copies and links back to each source.
How it applies
- Technical documentation: Writers often copy values from engineering systems into manuals. The boundary makes clear that the manual reuses the value and that corrections go to the source, not to the text.
- Integrated systems: In a digital thread, each data type should have one owner system. Duplicate masters are a main cause of information drift.
- Evidence: Reviewers need to know which record counts. Document the boundary as a table: information type, authoritative system, owner, and how copies are updated.
- AI and retrieval: Retrieval systems should index only authoritative content, or mark copies as such, so answers do not cite outdated duplicates.
Authoritative source boundary vs. source of truth
A source of truth names the authoritative system for a piece of information. The authoritative source boundary adds where that authority ends: which copies are allowed, how they are marked and when a downstream system becomes authoritative for derived information, such as a translated warning.