INFORMATION LIFE-CYCLE - ITS PLACE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF UNITED-STATES-GOVERNMENT INFORMATION RESOURCES

This article, which provides the first in-depth analysis of the information life cycle, traces that concept in policy instruments and the primary and secondary literature. Although these contain a number of references to the information life cycle, that concept is never fully developed. Furthermore, there are different explanations of the concept. The information life cycle, however, could contribute to the management of information resources as well as to the study of government information policy. The article outlines the stages of the information life cycle and encourages further discussion, analysis, and standardization of a concept that should be evolving, not static.