Data lineage
The path data has taken from its original source to where it is now, including each system it passed through and each transformation applied on the way.
Lineage answers two questions: where a number came from, and what will be affected if a source changes. It is closely related to provenance, with more attention to the route between systems.
See also
- ProvenanceWhere a value came from and what has been done to it since: the source file, the steps applied, and who or what applied them.
- Audit trailA record of what was changed in a dataset, when, and why, kept so that someone else can check the work later.
- TransformationAny step that turns data from one form into another: converting a type, splitting a column, combining tables, or calculating a new field.