Keeping a knowledge base healthy

Grounded answers are only as good as the documents. The rules with the biggest payoff:

• Authoritative copies only: keep one version per document; new versions replace old ones.
• Topical separation: several focused bases (“policies”, “product docs”) beat one big warehouse — and sharing control gets simpler.
• Clear names and structure: meaningful filenames and tidy headings inside documents sharpen answers.
• Real text: text-based files give the best results; don't expect much from low-quality image scans.
• An owner and a review cadence: one person owns each base and, on a set rhythm (say quarterly), removes or refreshes expired documents.
• The five-question test: after every update, ask five real questions and compare the answers against the documents.