BUILD 026 — Records Normalize Without Losing Their Past

SCENE 1
BUILD 026. A CLEAN TABLE CAN HIDE. Messy history still matters.

SCENE 2
RAW. PRESERVE THE SOURCE. Keep collection, time, owner, and permitted use.

SCENE 3
NORMALIZE. STANDARDIZE—DO NOT ERASE. Missingness and conflict remain signals.

SCENE 4
REVIEW. ASK WHO IS MISSING. Large coverage can still exclude.

SCENE 5
TRACE. MAKE TRANSFORMATIONS REVERSIBLE. Every field needs a path home.

SCENE 6
DECISION FITNESS. DO NOT CLEAN AWAY WARNINGS. Visible limits make data usable.

FINAL PROPOSITION
Messy data can support decisions only when its limits remain visible.