What is an Information Audit?

An information audit, in terms of content and documentation, is a systematic and quantitative (numerical) review of an organization’s content, presentation systems, structure, and content use. The goal is to determine the value and usefulness that an organization's content presents to its customers. An information audit is performed against a measurement of how the content contributes to the goals and successes of the organization. 

Typically, an information audit follows these steps: 

1. Collect quantifiable data about information resources 
2. Identify information sources 
3. Analyze and evaluate each item of data in terms of value to customers 
4. Analyze the costs in time, money, and resources  
5. Compare costs with information value 
6. Create recommendations for creating or modifying current information policies 
7. Create an ongoing plan for auditing 

An information audit gives an organization a better quantitative understanding of its information while providing data to create a more efficient content plan. An information audit can highlight key pain points within the content creation and content delivery cycles, as well as provide suggestions for solutions to problem areas. In particular, an information audit can determine gaps in an organization’s customer experience. 

By performing an information audit, an organization can improve its content creation and development efficiency, reducing costs and improving customer accessibility. Organizations can use the recommendations of an information audit to improve the quality of materials delivered to their customers, as well as reduce unused or low-value content while emphasizing or creating new higher-quality content.