The concept of creating, archiving, and using learning histories as part
of the research and engineering function is an old one. In fact, it is
considered 'good engineering practice' to create reports documenting
'lesson learned' from experiments and analysis. Usually, these reports
are given unique identifiers to facilitate search. Following 'good
engineering practice' these reports are archived. Before desktop
computing, reports were circulated among the engineering staff and
archived in file drawers. Now, they are circulated via e-mail and stored
on servers. These reports together with engineering specifications,
design documentation, test results, etc. form the 'project history,' and
usually maintained by a configuration management function within the
engineering department. This sort of history is useful for a number of
reasons, including avoiding making the same mistakes again and defending
yourself from litigation.
It seems like we are relearning old lessons, but with fancy new names...
-- Beth Clark U S WEST Communications eclark@advtech.uswest.com