Glossary · Document and evidence governance
Information drift
In technical documentation, information drift is the divergence of meaning, facts or instructions across documents, systems, versions, languages or channels, so that different sources say different things about the same product.
- Technical documentation
- Compliance
In one sentence
Information drift is when manuals, systems, translations and channels gradually start saying different things about the same product.
Example
The German manual of a conveyor gives a maintenance interval of 500 hours, the English one 400 hours after a revision, and the service app still shows 600 hours from the first release.
How it applies
- Technical documentation: Copying text and values between documents is the main cause. Reuse by reference, for example with DITA conref, and single-sourcing of values reduce drift.
- Translations: Translations updated at different times drift from the source. Track which source revision each translation is based on.
- Integrated systems: HMI texts, service apps, spare-parts catalogs and manuals are often maintained by different teams. An authoritative source boundary defines which source wins.
- AI and retrieval: Assistants that retrieve from several channels will surface the contradictions, or worse, blend them. Drift in indexed content becomes drift in answers.
Information drift vs. semantic drift
Information drift is about content: facts and instructions that diverge. Semantic drift is about meaning: the same term or field comes to mean different things. A changed definition of “operating hours” can cause information drift even if every number was copied correctly.