topics in document research

8/3/2019 Topics in Document Research

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SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO, DECEMBER 5-9, 1988 187

To p i c s i n D o c u m e n t R e s e a r c hDavid M. LevySystem Sciences Laboratory

Xerox Palo Alto Research Center3333 Coyote Hill RoadPalo Alto, CA 94304

I n t r o d u c t i o n

In this paper I want to propose and argue fo r a program of ba-sic research into the nature of documents, a program aimedat helping us u nderstand how documen ts are structured, cre-ated, interpreted and used. This is not a proposal for researchinto document systems per se. There is already a great dealof this kind of work in progress, work on the design and im-plementat ion of text and graphics editors, hypertext systems,multi- media workstations, page descriptio n languages, doc-ument interchange languages, and so on. What is missing,and provides the impetus for this position paper, is the setof complementa ry studies, in which documents - the subjectmatter, in effect, of our documen t systems - are investigatedin their own right, as richly-structured, cultural, commu niea-five artifacts.

A research program of this sort is basically without pre-cedent: the organized study of documents doesn't really existanywhere in the world today, and the relev ant threads are dis-tributed across a range of est ablished disciplines (linguistics,paleography, typography, anthropology, calligraphy, libraryscience, etc.). For such a program to work, it must be clearlyfocussed and coordinated, and arise from a strongly felt need.

My aim is to demonstr ate the requisite focus and need,and to outl ine some of the major perspectives from which thework might proceed. I will start with a preliminary definitionof documents, identifying them as a basic human categorythat is open-ended with respect to the media and techolo-gies it can admit. I will then describe seven interrelated re-search perspectives from which work can profitably be done.Follow ing this, I will assess the potential impact of such re-

search, in particular on evolvin g docume nt technology; andI will conclud e with a proposal for a directed research pro-gram.

Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material s grantedprovided hat the copies are not made or distributed or direct commercialadvantage, he ACM copyright noticeand the title of the publication ndits date appear, and notice s given hat copying s by permission of theAssociation for Computing Machinery. To copy otherwise, or torepublish, requires a fee and /or specific permission.

© 1988 ACM 0-89791-291-8/ 88/0012/0187 $1.50

W h a t i s a D o c u m e n t ?

Documents arise from the basic human n eed for stable, exter-nal, communi cative resources. W hat is said in the hallwaysis transien t and ins ubstantia l, while what is written down isfixed and external and therefore po tentially available to par-ticipants across space an d time.

Latour [16] refers to artifacts satisfy ing this need as "im-mutable mobiles"; I call them documents.~ To say that doc-uments are "immut able" is to suggest that they have a reas-suring stability or fixity, a perm anence, which makes thema powerful resource in an ever- changing world: not only doyou see what I see, but I know that you see what I see, andvice versa. To say that they are "mobi le" is to suggest thattheir stability and fixity is ma intain ed over time, so that the"same" entity is available to others who may n ot have beenpresent at its creation. These then are the main characteristicsof objects in this category:• Communicative artifacts. Documents are intentionally

made by humans to serve communicative function s - theyare deliberately constructed representations. But as arti-facts, their physical properties can be exploited for non-representational functions as well, such as decoration ordisplay.

• External undpublic. Documents are extern al to and sepa-rate from their creators, and can be made availab le to oth-ers. They are directly accessible to the senses - an impor-tam property if they are to f unctio n as a shared resource.

• Stabl e or (relatively) permanent. In order for them to beavailable as a shared resource over time, they requir e thestability or permanen ce that objects possess b ut activities

do not.Consider some simple test cases. Under this conception,purely paper-based"documents" (in the usual sense) are doc-uments. Thoughts a ren't documents because they v i o l a t e theconstraint on external availability; we create external rep-

Note that my main concern is not with the word "docu-ment" and its meanings (useful though these may be), butwith a category of obje ct that may or may not be adequatelyidentified by the word. However, my guess is that the word"docu ment" and its etymol ogical relatives do roughly desig-nate this category.



188 ACM CONFEREN CE ON DOCUMENT PROC ESSIN G SYSTEMS

resen ta t ions and o the r man i f e s t a t ions o f ou r t hough t s , bu tthough t s t hemse lves a r e i n t e rna l and p r iva t e . Foss i l foo t -p r in t s , t hough s t ab l e and ex te rna l , don ' t r e su l t f rom de l ibe r-a t e r ep resen ta t iona l ac t iv ity, and the re fo re a r en ' t documen t s .T h e m o r e c o m p l e x a n d i n t er e s ti n g c a s es o f a u d i o t a p e s , v i d e otapes , and com pute r f i l e s a r e d i scusse d be low.

S e v e n R e s e a r c h P e r s p e c t iv e s

Nex t l e t u s cons ide r s even in t e r r e l a t ed pe r spec t iv es f romw h i c h t o a p p r o a c h t h e s t u d y o f d o c u m e n t s :* T h e o n t o l o g y o f d o c u m e n t s• T h e o rg a n i z a ti o n o f d o c u m e n t s• T h e u s e o f d o c u m e n t s. T h e d e s i g n a n d c r e a t i o n o f d o c u m e n t s. D o c u m e n t m e d i a• C r o s s - c u l tu r a l k n o w l e d g e• H i s t o r i c al k n o w l e d g eThe f i r s t o f t hese pe r spec t ive s (on to logy) i s conce rned wi tht h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f a c o n c e p t u a l s c h e m e f o r c a t e g o r i z i n g

and unde r s t and ing documen t s ; t he nex t fou r (o rgan iza t ion ,use , des ign /c rea t ion , and med ia ) a r e exp lo ra t ions o f pa r t i cu -l a r f ace ts o f docum en t s ; and the l a s t two a re r e sources ava i l -a b l e t o u s f o r d e e p e n i n g o u r u n d e r s t a n d in g o f d o c u m e n t s . I nthe fo l lowing b r i e f t ou r o f t hese pe r spec t ives , I w i l l ou t l i nei s s u es a n d c i t e i n s t an c e s o f o n g o i n g o r c o m p l e t e d r e s e a r c h .

The Ontology of Documents

To p rov ide an o r i en t a t ion fo r t he l a rge r r e sea rch e ffo r t , wen e e d t o c l a r i f y o u r u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f d o c u m e n t s . T h e s k e t chp r e s e n t e d i n t h e l a s t s e c t io n , f o r e x a m p l e , m i g h t b e e x p a n d e di n a n u m b e r o f d i r e c t io n s .

O n e s u c h d i r e c t i o n i n v o l v e s u n d er s t a n d i ng w h a t h a s r e -m a i n e d c o n s t a n t a n d w h a t h a s c h a n g e d t h r o u g h d e v e l o p -m e n t s i n d o c u m e n t t e c h n o l o g y a n d m e d i a . P r i o r to t h e

a d v e n t o f p r i n t i n g , d o c u m e n t s w e r e i n d i v id u a l , p h y s i c a l a r -t i f ac t s - t h ink o f a roya l cha r t e r on ve l lum as a pa rad igm a t i cins t ance . Bu t w i th th e in t roduc t ion o f t echno log ie s fo r exac t ,m a s s r e p r o d u c i b i l i t y (e . g . w o o d b l o c k p r i n t i n g a n d m o v a b l etype ) , i t became p oss ib l e to p roduc e a s e t o f a r t i f ac t s t ha tw e r e e q u a l l y s t a b l e a n d i d e n t i c a l l y c o m m u n i c a t i v e . U n d e rt h e s e n e w c i r c u m s t a n c e s , " d o c u m e n t - h e s s " i n h e r e d i n t h e i n -d iv idua l ( a pa r t i cu l a r m em ber o f t he se t ) , t he se t i t s e l f, o r t hec l a s s o f p o t e n t i a l ly c r e a t a b l e i n d i v i d u a ls .

T h e s a m e t e c h n o l o g i c a l d e v e l o p m e n t o c c a s i o n e d a n -o the r impor t an t sp l i t , be tween the documen t a r t i f ac t s t hem-se lves and thetemplate, thesepa ra t e a r t i f ac t f rom w hich thedocum en t s we re p roduced . Th i s sp l i t ha s t aken on a g rea t e rs ign i f i cance in ou r cen tu ry, wh ere aud io t ape , v id eo t ape ,and com pute r f i l e s ( r ep resen ta t ions o f t ex t and g raph ic s ) a r e

sepa ra t ed f rom the i r d i r ec t ly pe rcep t ib l e man i f e s t a t ions ; andwhere , i n ce r t a in cases , t he pe rc ep t ib l e man i f e s t a t ion i s ac -t i ve and the re fo re ephemera l , wh i l e t he t empla t e i s s t a t i cand r e l a t iv e ly pe rman en t . Fo r t he f i r s t t ime , t hen , t he s to r-age a r t i f ac t ( t ape , f i lm , o r compute r memory) i s s epa ra t ef rom the p re sen ta t ion a r t i f ac t , and the p re sen ta t ion a r t i f ac ti s t r ans i en t ; bu t t h i s ensem ble o f s to red fo rm p lus p re sen ta -t i ons i s s t ab l e , and the re fo re docum en t - l i ke , because an exac tr e - p r e s e n ta t i o n c a n b e c r e a t e d o n d e m a n d . D o c u m e n t - n e s sthe re fo re inhe res i n t he s to rage a r t i f ac t combine d wi th i t sc l a s s o f p re sen ta t ions .

T h e r e a r e v a r i o u s s t u d i e s w h i c h h a v e t r i e d t o c o m e t o

t e rms wi th the on to log ica l s t atu s o f documen t s - wr i t i ng andimag e mak ing - i n r e l a t ion to t echno log ica l and cu l tu ra l evo -lu t ion . Exam ples i nc lude Ha ve lock [11 ], Iv ins [14 ] , and Ong[19]. Through inves t iga t ions o f t h is k ind , I wou ld hope tha twe can a r r ive a t a be t t e r unde r s t and ing o f t he va r ious f ace t so f documen t s a s t hey man i fe s t t hemse lves to u s t oday, andm a k e s o m e s e n s e o f t h e c o n f u s i n g c l a i m s b e i n g m a d e f o rh y p e r te x L m u l t i m e d i a a n d h y p e r m e d i a " d o c u m e n t s . "

The Organization of Documents

The s tudy o f l anguage in t he twen t i e th cen tu ry has beenl a rg e ly c o n c e r n e d w i t h d e v e l o p i n g s y s t e m a t i c a c c o u n ts o fl i ngu i s t i c fo rm ( syn tax ) a s i t r e l a t e s t o mean ing ( seman t i c s ) .T h e r e i s m u c h t o b e l e a r n e d b y d e v e l o p i n g a n a l o g o u s a c -coun t s fo r documen t s - t ha t is , a ccoun t s o f t he i r s t ruc tu re i nre l a t ion to t he i r mean ing an d use . In t he fo l lo wing , I w i l l con -f i ne m y r e m a r k s t o t r a d it i o n a l, t w o - d i m e n s i o n a l d o c u m e n t s ,bu t i t shou ld be c l e a r t ha t the sam e so r t s o f ques t ions can bea s k e d o f f i l m a n d v i d e o t a p e a s w e l l .

To d a t e, w e h a v e m a i n l y h a d " f o i l " a c c o u n t s o f t h e e l e -men t s o f documen t s , such a s pages , pa rag raph s , f i gu res, l ineso f t ex t , s ec t ions , and foo tno te s . Whi l e t hese accoun t s mayb e e x a c t l y w h a t i s n e e d e d f o r a u t h o r s a n d r e a d e r s , t h e y a r eun l ike ly to s e rve a s t he theo re t i ca l founda t ion fo r an unde r-s t a n d i ng o f d o c u m e n t o rg a n i z a t io n , a n y m o r e t h a n s e c o n d a r ys c h o o l E n g l i s h g r a m m a r p r o v i d e s a t h e o r e t i c a l b a s i s f o r t h es tudy o f l anguage . Unfo r tuna te ly, t hese fo i l accoun t s havef o r m e d t h e b a s i s f o r t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f m o s t c o m p u t a t i o n a ldocum en t sys t em s , a cons ide ra t ion I w i l l pu r sue fu r the r i n al a t e r s ec t ion .

Wh a t i s t he na tu re o f t he d i f f e ren t g raph ica l r ep re sen ta -t i on schemes by w h ich g raph ic s ca r ry in fo rm a t ion? Tex t , t a -b l e s , p i e cha r t s , maps , a r ch i t ec tu ra l p l ans , eng inee r ing d raw-ings , mus ica l s co res , supe rm arke t ba rcodes , cho reograph ica lno ta t ions , f l ow cha r t s , and so on cons t i t u t e d i f f e ren t s ty l e s o fr ep resen t ing in fo rma t ion g raph ica l ly. Ye t t he re a r e no sys -t e m a t i c a c c o u n ts o f t h e a r r a n g e m e n t o f g r a p h i c a l u n i ts , a n dn o a c c o u n t s o f h o w t h e s e a r ra n g e m e n t s c a r r y m e a n i n g .2

A l o n g w h a t d i m e n s i o n s a r e d i f f e re n t s c h e m e s c h a r a c -t e r iz a b l e ? W h a t r o l e d o e s l i n e a r a l i g n m e n t o f u n i t s p l a y -w h a t k i n d s o f i n f o r m a t io n d o e s a l i g n m e n t c a r r y ? H o w d o e swhi t e space func t ion in d i f f e ren t s chemes - e .g . wha t ro l e i sp l a y e d b y i n t e rw o r d s p a c e , m a rg i n s , i n d e n ta t i o n , a n d s o o n ?I n w h a t w a y s d o d i f f e r en t " d e p t h e n c o d i n g s " w o r k , s u c h a s2D, 2½ D, an d 3D? W ha t i s t he s ign i f i canc e o f d i sc re t e en -cod ings , such a s t he a lphab e t , ve r sus the so r t s o f con t inuousrep resen ta t ions found in p i c to r i a l a r t ? T hese a re som e f ewof the my r i ad ques t ions one i s l i ke l y to pu r sue in t ry ing tounde r s t and how to a s ses s d i f f e ren t g raph ica l r ep re sen ta t ions c h e m e s .

G o o d m a n , i nThe Languages of Art[8 ] , a t t empt s t ounde r s t and the d i f f e ren t r ep re sen ta t iona l cha rac t e r i s t i c s o fpa rag raphs , pa in t ings , mus ica l s co res , and o the r g raph ica ln o t a ti o n s . S a m p s o n ' sWriting Systems[21 ] i s an inves t iga -t i on o f t he g raph ica l encod ing schemes l i ngu i s t s ca l l"writ-

2 I t i s t empt ing to appro pr i a t e t e rms l i ke " syn tax" and " l an -guag e" f rom l ingu i s t i c s . W hi l e such t e rms have a ce r t a inin tu i t i ve appea l , t he i r ea r ly use seems i l l - adv i sed . Speak ingo f " g r a m m a r s f o r g r a p h i c a l l a n g u a g e s , " f o r e x a m p l e , m a ysugges t i nappropr i a t e ana log ie s be tween the ve rba l and theg r a p h i c a l d o m a i n s ,



S A N T A F E , N E W M E X I C O , D E C E M B E R 5 -9 , 1 9 88 1 8 9

i ng . " Twym an [25 ] and h i s s tuden t s , a s we l l a s Sou tha l l [22 ] ,have wr i t t en ex tens ive ly on the p rope r t i e s o f "g raph ic l an -g u a g e . " T h e r e i s a l s o a g r o w i n g b o d y o f l i t e r a t u r e o n p a r t i c -u l a r t ypes o f g raph ica l e l emen t s - fo r example , Beach [1 ] ,W r igh t [27 ] , Wac howicz [26 ], Goody [9 ] , and Nor r i sh [18 ]a p p r o a c h t a b l e s f r o m t h e p e r s p e c t iv e s o f c o m p u t e r s c i e n ce ,psycho logy, l i ngu i s t i c s , an th ropo logy, and typography, r e -spec t ive ly. These a re p romis in g con t r ibu t ions , bu t t he coor-d ina t ion be tween inves t iga t ions i s l ack ing tha t migh t l ead todeepe r and b roade r unde r s t and ing o f t he r egu la r i t i e s i n t hed o m a i n .

The Use o f Documents

Lik e a l l a r ti f ac t s , docum en t s a r e u l t im a te ly cons t i t u t ed andin t e rp re t ed in v i r tue o f t he ro l e s t hey p l ay in soc i a l l i f e . Thesoc ia l s c i ences have become inc reas ing ly in t e re s t ed in t heways tha t p rac t i ce ( cu l tu re ) shapes a r t i f ac t s ( t echno logy) andv ice ve r sa . Th i s i s pa r t l y r e f l ec t ed in t he r ecen t l i t e r a tu reon "app ropr i a t e t echno logy, " wh ich s tud ie s t he f it and m is -f i t be tween t echno log ie s and the cu l tu re s i n wh ich they a reemb edde d [3 , 4 ] .

In t he r ea lm o f docum en t s , t h i s i n t e re s t t rans l a t e s i n toa conce rn fo r t he r e l a t ionsh ip be tween docum en t s , t he t ech -n o l o g i e s a n d m e d i a i n w h i c h t h e y a r e r e a li z e d , a n d t h e s o c i a lcon tex t i n wh ich they a re c r ea t ed and used . The evo lu t ionof new documen t fo rms in s t ab l e o rgan iza t ions and the useo f s t a b l e d o c u m e n t f o r m s i n e v o l v i n g o rg a n i z a ti o n s p r o v i d eam ple da t a fo r s tud ie s o f t he fi t be tween docum en t a r t i f ac t sand p rac t i ce . T he re i s a g rowing b ody o f l i t e r a tu re , fo r ex -ample , on the r e l a t ionsh ip be tween e l ec t ron ic ma i l and o ff i cework [15 ]. The o ff i ce env i ronm en t , i n f ac t , s eems to o ff e rp a r t i c u l a rl y f e r ti l e g r o u n d f o r e x p l o r a t i o n s o f d o c u m e n t u s e ,s ince documen t s a r e such an e s sen t i a l componen t o f o ff i cep rac t i ce , and s ince the o ff i ce i s t he m a in t a rge t fo r t he in t ro -duc t ion o f t he new, computa t ion a l docum en t t echno log ie s .

A s a n e x a m p l e , c o n s i d e r w h a t m i g h t b e l e a r n e d b ys tudy ing the use o f Pos t - i t sa , the sm a l l pads o f ye l low, s t i cky

p a p e r m a n u f a c tu r e d b y 3 M . T h e i r s u d d e n a r r iv a l ( t h ey s e e mt o h a v e i n v a d e d t h e m a r k e t p l a c e o v e r n ig h t ) a n d s e e m i n g i n -d i spensa b i l i t y a t t e s t t o t he i r succes s fu l ba l anc ing o f fo rm andf u n c ti o n . A n a n a l y s i s w o u l d p r o b a b l y s h o w h o w t h e y s u p -p o r t q u i c k , i n f o r m a l c o m m u n i c a t i o n b y l i m i t i n g t h e p a p e rs i ze and fo rc ing the use r t o wr i t e by hand , and how the g luea l lows them to be in t ima te ly connec ted to t he r e l evan t ob jec tin t he i r imm ed ia t e env i ronmen t . The re i s much to l ea rn he reabou t t he r e l a t ions be tween the phys i ca l s t ruc tu re o f Pos t - i t s ,t he r ange o f g raph ica l encod in gs they enab le and a l low, t hek inds o f messages they suppor t , and the p rac t i ce s i n wh ichthey pa r t i c ipa t e .

In s tud ie s o f t h i s k ind , t he re a r e many o the r ques t ions tob e a d d r e s s e d a s w e l l . W h a t r o l e i s p l a y e d b y t h e d o c u m e n t a sphys i ca l a r t i f ac t? Wha t happens , fo r example , when a pape r

documen t ( an ind iv idua l , phys i ca l ob jec t ) i s r ep l aced by at r a n si e n t im a g e o n a s c r e e n ? W h o e n g a g e s i n " d o c u m e n t i n gac t iv i t i e s " i n t he env i ronmen t unde r s tudy, when , and why?Perhaps even m ore s ign i f i can t , who d oesn ' t engage in suchprac t i ce s , when d o they choose no t t o , and why no t? Power i sa s soc ia t ed wi th the ac t o f documen t ing ( the words "au tho r"and "au th o r i ty" a r e no t acc iden ta l ly r e l a t ed ) , in pa r t becausethe s t ab i l i t y o f docum en t s l eads to accoun tab i l i t y. S uchm an ' s

3 Pos t - i t i s a r eg i s t e r ed t r adem ark o f 3M.

s tudy o f accoun t ing p rac t i ce s [23 ] , fo r i n s tance , i s a ca ses tudy o f t he r e l a t ionsh ip be tween docu men t s , pow er, po l i cy,and accoun tab i l i t y.

The Design a nd Creation of Docume nts

D o c u m e n t d e s i g n p r o v i d e s a n o t h e r v a n t a g e p o i n t f ro m w h i c ht o s t u d y d o c u m e n t o rg a n i z a t i o n , d o c u m e n t u s e , a n d t h e r e la -t i onsh ip be tween them, s in ce i t make s v i s ib l e t he p rocessesa n d p r i n c i p l e s b y w h i c h d o c u m e n t s a r e o rg a n i z e d a n d r e a l -i zed to su i t t he i r con tex t o f u se .

Trad i t i ona l ly, ce r t a in c l a s ses o f docume n t s have beenproduced b y h igh ly sk i l l ed c ra f t smen , who , t h rough app ren -t i c es h i p , h a v e a c q u i r e d c e n t u r i e s o f a c c u m u l a t e d k n o w l e d g ec o n c e r n i n g g r a p h i c a l a r r a n g e m e n t f o r e f f e c ti v e c o m m u n i c a -t i on . In boo k p roduc t ion , fo r exam ple , expe r t i s e conce rn ingthe c rea t ion o f ve rba l e l emen t s ( s en tences , pa rag raphs , s ec -t i ons , and s o on ) , t he i r r ea l i za t ion in tw o-d ime ns iona l g raph-i ca l fo rm, and the p rod uc t ion o f t he ph ys i ca l a r t i f ac t (boundv o l u m e s a n d j a c k e t c o v e r s ) h a s b e e n d i s t r ib u t e d a m o n g s p e -c i a l i zed c ra f t smen , i nc lu d ing copy ed i to r s , book des igne r s ,comp os i to r s , and p roduc t ion ed i to r s . Bu t now, a s desk toppub l i sh ing beg ins to g i ve ind iv idua l s t he t echn ica l t oo l s , bu tno t t he t r ad i t i ona l know ledge n eeded to r ea l i ze t he en t i r e p ro -ces s , i t s eems impe ra t ive tha t t he des ign p r inc ip l e s and p ro -c e s s e s t h at h a v e b e e n t a c i t ly h e l d b y d o c u m e n t e x p e r t s b ea r t i cu l a t ed and unde r s tood .

Scand in av ia has l ed the wa y in t he e ffo r t t o t r ans l a te t r a-d i t io n a l c r a f t k n o w l e d g e i n t o m o d e r n d e s i g n p r a c t i ce . E h n ' sWork-Oriented Design of Computer Artifacts[5] offers ab road t r ea tm en t o f t h i s pe r spec t ive , i nc lud ing a d i scuss ion o fthe UTOPIA p ro jec t , wh ich a t t e mpte d to i n t roduce compute rt e c h n o l o g y in t o t h e n e w s p a p e r i n d u s t ry b y w o r k i n g w i t h t h ep rac t i t i one r s sk i l l ed in t he p r io r t echno logy.

In the Un i t ed S ta t e s , t he re i s a l so an ex tens ive l i t e r a tu reon wr i t i ng , wh ich may p rove r e l evan t t o fu tu re s tud ie s ondocum en t des ign [7 ] . Th i s wo rk i s l a rge ly conce rned wi thhow ideas a r e t r ans l a t ed in to l i ngu i s t i c un i t s - s en tences and

such - and i s l i t t l e conce rned wi th the ac tua l , conc re t e em-b o d i m e n t o f s u c h v e r b a l e l e m e n t s i n g r a p h i c a l fo r m . T h i sp e r s p e c t i v e s e e m s t o b e t r a c e a b l e to t h e p r e o c c u p a t i o n o fm o d e m l i n g ui s t s w it h a b s t r a c t i o n s o v e r t h e s p o k e n ( s o - c a ll e d" l inea r " ) fo rms o f u t t e r ances and the i r gene ra l d i s r ega rd o fthe g raph ica l two-d im ens iona l man i f e s t a t ions o f l anguage .

Document Media

As no ted ea r l i e r, a ma jo r r evo lu t ion in docum en t t echno log yi s in p rog res s i n t h i s cen tu ry wi th the deve lop men t o f t hemeans fo r r eco rd ing ac t iv i ty, c r a f t ing r e -p re sen ta t ions o f ac -t i v i ty, and c rea t ing sy n the t i c fo rms o f i t a s we l l . Th i s m arksa change f rom our r ecen t pas t , whe re on ly s t a t i c ob jec t s hadthe comm unica t ive s t ab i l i t y t o qua l i fy a s documen t s .

As a r e su l t , a new fo rm o f l i t e r acy i s deve lop in g , wh ich

i s conce rned wi th o u r ab i l i t y t o " r ead" in t en t iona l ly c ra f t ed ,r eco rded ac t iv i ty. In t he c inem a , fo r exam ple , i t t ook seve ra ldecades to deve lop the conven t ions - such a s mon tage andthe jum p cu t - by wh ich sn ippe t s o f r eco rded ac t iv i ty cou ldbe a r r anged to ma ke a cohe ren t who le . Th i s t ime was neededfo r t he c inema tographe r s t o pe r fo rm the i r expe r imen t s andfo r t he v i ewing pub l i c t o unde r s t and and accep t t hem. Toth i s day, so -ca l l ed "expe r im en ta l c inem a" con t inues to p l aywi th the r e l a t ions be tween wha t i s t ech n ica l ly f eas ib l e and



190 ACM CONFER ENCE ON DOCUMENT PROC ESSING SYSTEMS

wha t i s conv en t iona l ly i n t e rp re t ab le .N o w t h a t w e c a n s e e a b r o a d e r r a n g e o f d o c u m e n t m e -

d ia , encompass ing s t a t i c and ac t ive fo rms , and mix tu re s o fthe two , i t i s poss ib l e t o do comp ara t ive s tud ie s o f t he r ep re -

sen ta t iona l cha rac t e r i s t i c s , com mun ica t ive e ff ec t s , and useso f t he d i f f e ren t med ia , wh ich migh t he lp us t o unde r s t anda n d s h a p e t h e n e w l i t er a c y, a s w e l l a s s h e d d i n g n e w l i g h t o nour ea r l i e r a lphabe t i c and g rap h ica l fo rms . The re i s , i n f ac t ,a subs t an t i a l l i t e r a tu re , o f va ry ing dep th and qua l i t y, f romM c L u h a n [ 1 7] o n , t h a t i s c o n c e r n e d w i t h t h e n e w m e d i a i nre l a t ion to cu l tu ra l evo lu t ion .

M y s u g g e s t i o n h e r e, h o w e v e r, i s f o r b a s i c s tu d y o f t h ena tu re o f r eco r ded (o r exa c t ly r ep roduc ib l e ) ac t iv i ty, a s tudyt h a t m i g h t d r a w o n , a s e x a m p l e s , r e s e a r c h i n t o w r i tt e n a n dora l l anguage [24 ] , l i t e r acy [10 , 20 ] , and c inem a .

Cross-cultural and Historical Knowledge

C r o s s - c u l tu r a l a n d h i s t o r i c a l k n o w l e d g e a r e i n v a l u a b l e t o ol sf o r d e v e l o p i n g a d e e p e r a n d b r o a d e r c o n c e p t i o n o f d o c u -

m e n t s i n s o f a r a s t h e y f r e e u s f r o m n a i v e c o n c e p t i o n s o f w h a ti s , wha t i s neces sa r i l y, and wh a t w i l l be , t he case .In the l a t e 1970 ' s and ea r ly 1980 ' s , fo r exam ple , t he

" p a p e r l e s s o f f ic e " w a s t h o u g h t t o b e i m m i n e n t , t h e m u l t if a r -i o u s u s e s o f p a p e r a n d i n k s o o n t o b e r e p l a c e d b y t h e i r el e c -t ron ic coun te rpa r t s . Th i s f a l s e p red ic t ion cou ld have beenavo id ed th rough h i s to r i ca l awareness , fo r h i s to ry r evea l s t ha to l d e r d o c u m e n t t e c h n o l o g i e s a r e r e t a i n e d ( a l th o u g h p o s s i b l yreo r i en ted ) a s new ones a re acqu i r ed . Our l i t e r a t e cu l tu rere t a ins and r e inves t s i n i t s t echn o log ica l he r i t age , s ince thec o s t o f r a d i c a l l y d is c o n t i n u o u s c h a n g e i s s o h i g h . E v i d e n c eof t h i s r e t en t ion su r rounds us : go in to a bank ( an env i ron -men t i n wh ich s t ab l e r eco rds a re c r i t i ca l ) and no t i ce the r angeo f d o c u m e n t t e c h n o l o g i e s si m u l t a n e o u s l y in u s e - p e n s , p a -p e r , t y p e w r i te r s , c a rb o n - b a c k e d f o r m s , s t a m p s a n d i n k p a d s ,c o m p u t e r s , a n d s o o n .

M a n y n a i v e a s s u m p t i o n s a l s o a r is e f r o m i g n o r a n c e o ft h e r a n g e o f d o c u m e n t c o n v e n t i o n s a n d u s e s t h r o u g h o u t t h ew o r l d t o d a y. I n th e U n i t e d S t a t e s , f o r e x a m p l e , o u r n e w c o m -p u t a t i o n a l d o c u m e n t t e c h n o l o g i e s , w h i c h s e e m t o p r o m i s eg rea t f l ex ib i l i t y and c ove rage , a r e ba re ly sens i t i ve to t herange o f cu l tu ra l conven t ions , w h ich inc lude pape r s i ze , punc -tua t ion , l anguage , wr i t i ng o rde r, and so on . (One no tab lee x c e p t i o n i s t h e w o r k o f B e c k e r [ 2 ]. )

Sampson [21 ] and E i sens t e in [6 ] a r e u se fu l s t a r t i ngpo in t s fo r t he ex p lo ra t ion o f c ros s -cu l tu ra l and h i s to r i ca l fac -t o r s, a n d t h e r e a r e s o m e n u m b e r o f a d d i t i o n a l so u r c e s o f t h i sso r t . Bu t much r e sea rch r ema ins to be done to unde r s t and ther a n g e o f d o c u m e n t f o r m s a n d p r a c t i c e s a c ro s s s p a c e a n d t i m e- r e sea rch wh ich can he lp us unde r s t and wha t i s e s sen t i a l t od o c u m e n t i n g a n d w h a t i s c o n t i n g en t .

I m p a c t o f t h e R e s e a r c h

I have now sugges t ed tha t documen t s cons t i t u t e a bas i c hu -man ca t egory, cons i s t i ng o f s t ab l e , ex t e rna l r ep re sen ta t ions ,and I have p re se n ted a s e t o f r e sea rch d i r ec t ions o r l oc i w hosea c h i e v e m e n t s c a n b e e x p e c t e d t o a d v a n c e o u r u n d e r s t an d i n gof t h i s ca t egory. We mig h t fu r the r expec t t hese advancest o p r o v i d e s o m e o f t h e e s t a b l i s h e d d i s c i p li n e s w i th a b r o a d e rbase fo r t he i r own exp lo ra t ion s - con t r ibu t ions to l i ngu i s t i c s ,f o r e x a m p l e , f r o m a n u n d e r s t a n d in g o f g r a p h i c a l re p r e s e n t a-t i o n s c h e m e s .

Bu t a r e t hese su ff i c i en t g rounds on wh ich to m oun t aconce r t ed and coord ina t ed inves t iga t ion in to the na tu re o fd o c u m e n t s ? A m u c h s t r o n g e r arg u m e n t f o r d o i n g s o c o m e sf r o m a n a p p r e c i a t io n o f r e c e n t c h a n g e s i n d o c u m e n t t e c h n o l-

o g y - I r e f e r t o t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f c o m p u t e r - b a s e d d o cu -men t sys t ems - and the ways in wh ich these changes nowd e m a n d e x p l i c i t a c c o u n ts o f d o c u m e n t s .

F o r t h e s e d o c u m e n t s y s t e m s a r eabout documen t s ; t heye s s e n t i a ll y e m b e d t h e i r d e s i g n e r s ' a c c o u n t s o f h o w d o c u -men t s a r e s t ruc tu red and used . B u t t he i r des igne r s have t r a -d i t i o n a l ly b e e n c o m p u t e r s c i e n ti s t s a n d e n g i n e e r s , w h o h a v ee m b e d d e d t h e i r fo l k u n d e r st a n d i n g o f d o c u m e n t s - a r e a -sonab le f i r s t s t ep , bu t u l t ima te ly an in adequa te bas i s fo r t hed e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e p o w e r f u l to o l s w e r e q u i re . T h e s e d e -s i g n e rs h a v e l a c k e d t h e n e c e s s a r y a w a r e n e s s o f t h e s u b j e c tma t t e r t ha t can and needs to be s tud ied apa r t f rom the con-t e rns o f sys t em a rch i t ec tu re , a lgo r i thmic con ten t , and so on .T h e y h a v e l a c k e d t h e c u l t u ra l a n d h i s t o r i c a l a w a re n e s s o fdocum en t s , and , a long wi th th i s , t he s ty l e s and m e thods wi thwhich to obse rve and inves t iga t e t he de t a i l ed s t ruc tu re o fd o c u m e n t s . T h e r e s u l t h a s b ee n a s p a t e o f d o c u m e n t t o o lst h a t r e p r e s e n t i m p r e s s i v e f e a t s o f s o f t w a r e e n g i n e e r i n g , b u tare ad hoc and id iosync ra t i c , and l ac k the modu la r i t y t ha tcom es wi th a g ra sp o f t he na tu ra l j o in t s o f t he sub jec t ma t t e r.

L e t u s l o o k a t s e v e r a l c a se s w h e r e d o c u m e n t r e s e a r c hr rf ig h t c o n t r i b u te t o t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f m o r e p o w e r f u l , r o -bus t , and usab le sys t ems .

Document Interchange

Docu men t i n t e rcha nge r e fe r s to t he ab i l i t y t o exchange docu-m e n t s a m o n g d o c u m e n t p r e p a r a t i o n s y s t e m s o f d i f f e r in g c a -b i l i t i e s and o r ig in , so tha t a do cum en t i n i t i a l l y p repa red onone can be fu r the r ed i t ed and fo rma t t ed on ano the r. In t e r-change i s a d i f f i cu l t and a s y e t unso lved p rob lem: the num -b e r o f " i n c o m p a t i b l e " d o c u m e n t p r e p a r a t i o n s y s t em s , e a c hwi th the i r own in t e rna l r ep re sen ta t ions and accompany ingconcep t ions o f docum en t s t ruc tu re , i s r ap id ly inc reas ing .

Thus f a r, one fo rm o f so lu t ion has been p ropo sed : t o de -ve lop a s t anda rd ized in t e rchange l angu age and to i n s i s t t ha ta l l docum en t sys t ems b e ab le t o t r ans l a t e t he i r i n t e rna l docu-men t desc r ip t ion s in to and ou t o f t h is l anguag e fo r t r ansmis -s ion to fo re ign sys t ems . Unfo r tuna te ly, t he cu r ren t p roposeds t anda rds fo r desc r ib ing docume n t s t ha t cons i s t o f r e l a t ive lys i m p l e m i x t u r es o f t e x t a n d g r a p h ic s , O D A [ 12 ] a n d S G M L[13] , a r e h igh ly id iosy nc ra t i c and inadequa te ; and the p rob -l e m o f e x c h a n g i n g a u d i o a n d v i d e o , l e t a l o n e m i x t u re s o faud io , v ideo , t ex t , and g rap h ic s , has ba re ly been cons ide red .

The in t e rchange p rob lem has thus f a r beeen approach edb y c o m p u t e r s c i e n t is t s as a c o m p u t e r s c i e n c e p r o b l e m w i t hc o m p u t e r s c i e n c e m e t h o d s . W h i l e t h e r e is c e r t a i n ly a s u b -s t a n ti a l c o m p u t e r s c i e n c e c o m p o n e n t , w h a t h a s b e e n l a c k i n gso f a r i s t he r ecogn i t i on tha t a documen t i n t e rchange l an -guage i s a s cheme fo r r ep resen t ingdocuments - fo r r ep re -sen t ing th ings ou t t he re i n t he wor ld , whose cha rac t e r i s t i c sd e r i v e m a i n l y f r o m t h e i r p l a c e i n h u m a n a c t i v it i e s an d n o tf r o m c o m p u t a t i o n a l p ro p e r t i e s o f t h e s y s t e m s t h a t m a n i p u l a t et h e m - a n d c o n s e q u e n t l y t h a t c o h e r e n t m o d e l s o f d o c u m e n t sa r e u l t i m a t e l y to b e d e r i v e d f r o m s o u n d c h a r a c t e r i z at i o n s o fdocumen t s t ruc tu re .



S A N TA F E , N E W M E X I C O , D E C E M B E R 5 -9 , 1 9 88 1 91

Document Edit ing

I n t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f c o m p u t a t i o n a l to o l s f o r d o c u m e n t e d i t -i ng , t he push i s t oward g re a t e r i n t eg ra t ion o f func t iona l i t y. Inthe pas t , ed i to r s have been c rea t ed fo r pa r t i cu l a r documen t" types" : s epa ra t e ed i to r s have been des ign ed fo r t ex t (a s d i s -t i nc t f rom g raph ic s ) ; s epa ra t e ed i to r s fo r d i f f e ren t c la s ses o fg raph ic s , such a s r a s t e r and vec to r g raph ic s ; s epa ra t e ed i -to r s fo r d i f f e ren t na tu ra l l anguages and cu l tu re s ; and sep a -ra t e ed i to r s fo r newly dev i sed o r r ecog n ized c l a s ses , such a ssp readshee t s . Wi th the r ecogn i t i on tha t peop le wan t t o bea b l e t o c o m b i n e m u l t i p l e m o d a l i ti e s in a s i n g l e d o c u m e n t i na seam les s manner, ed i to r s a r e now be ing c rea t ed tha t com -b ine seve ra l o f t hese : t ex t and r a s t e r g raph ic s , t ex t and v ec to rg raph ic s , t ex t and sp rea d shee t s , r a s t e r and ve c to r g raph ic s ,and so on .

Bu t i t i s c l ea r t ha t t he s t ruc tu re o f t h i s space o f poss i -b i l i t i e s i s no t ye t we l l unde r s tood . The d i s t i nc t ion be tweentex t and g raph ic s , fo r exam ple , has t o do wi th a mode o f r ep -r e s e n t in g t h e w o r l d ( w h i c h m i g h t b e c h a r a c t e ri z e d ro u g h l yas a lphabe t i c / l i ngu i s t i c v s . i con ic , a l though even th i s cha r-ac t e r i za t ion su re ly needs some work ) , wh i l e t he d i s t i nc t ionbe tween r a s t e r and v ec to r g raph ic s has t o do wi th the p rope r-t i e s o f tbe ma rkab le su r f ace ( rough ly whe the r i t a ccep t s f i n i t eo r i n f in i t e s ima l marks ) .

Wi tho u t a c l ea r unde r s t and ing o f t he va r ious g raph ica lencod ing schemes an d the i r unde r ly ing g raph ica l and r ep re -s e n t a ti o n a l c o m m o n a l i t i e s , i t i s n ' t y e t p o s s i b l e t o b u i l d e d -i to r s t ha t exh ib i t t ru ly cohe ren t , p r inc ip l ed in t eg ra t ion . No ri s i t ye t poss ib l e t o bu i ld t a i l o rab le , mod u la r ed i to r s wh ichc a n b e e a s i l y m o d i f i e d t o a c c e p t n e w c l a s s e s o f d o c u m e n te l e m e n t s b y r e u s i n g a n d r e w i r i n g t h e e d i t o r ' s e x i s t in g m o d -u l e s. M o d u l a r i t y o f t h is k i n d w i l l c o m e f r o m a p r i n c i p l e du n d e r s t a n di n g o f t h e d o m a i n o f d o c u m e n t s t r u c tu r e.

Document UseDocum en t sys t em s need to ach ieve a h igh deg ree o f f i t w i tht h e w o r k p r a c t i c e s a n d w o r k e n v i r on m e n t s t h e y a r e d e s i g n e dto suppor t . O f t en today, t hough , t he uses o f the sys t em a ren a i v e l y a n d n a r r o w l y c o n s t r u e d b y d e s i g n e r s , w h o h a v e n omo re adequa te un de r s t and ing o f t he r ea l p rac t ice s t he i r sys -t ems a re mean t t o suppor t t han they have o f t he r ange andn a t u re o f t h e d o c u m e n t e l e m e n t s t h e i r s y s t e m s m a y b e u s e dto c rea t e .

Take "wo rk f low " a s a ca se in po in t . Th i s t e rm re fe r s t othe p rocedura l a spec t s o f co l l abo ra t ive o ff ice work , where ,fo r examp le , a c l i en t ' s pape r f i l e ma y f low f rom desk to deskin an in su rance company o ff i ce a s h i s c l a im i s p roces sed .S y s t e m s a r e n o w b e i n g c r e a t e d in w h i c h d o c u m e n t s o f t h i sk i n d a r e e l e c t r o n i c a l ly " c a p tu r e d , " a n d a c c e s s t o t h e m b y e m -

p l o y e e s i s s c h e d u l e d t o m i m i c t h e o f f ic i a l w o r k f l o w p r o c e -dures .

The p rob lem w i th th i s , a s s tud ie s i nd ica t e ( e .g . Su ch-man [23 ] , c i t ed ea r li e r ) , i s tha t o ff i c i a l work p rocedures a r eo f t en a " fo i l " aga ins t wh ich the r ea l o ff ice work ge t s done .I t ' s no t t ha t t hese work p rocedures a r e i gnored , bu t r a the rtha t t hey p rov id e the concep t s and vocabu la ry wi th wh ichto t e l l o ff i c i a l s to r i e s abou t wha t happened . (Th ink abou t t hed i spa r i ty be tween the o ff i c i a l s to ry tha t expense r epor t s o f t ent e l l and the r ea l i t ie s o f bus ines s t r ave l . ) Sys t ems tha t b l ind lyau toma te o ff i c i a l work p rocedures a r e l i ke ly to do v io l enceto e ff ec t ive wor k p rac t i ce . In s t ead , t he ob jec t ive , a s exempl i -

f l ed in t he Scand in av ian approach , s hou ld be to unde r s t andthe t ru th o f work p rac t i ce s i n r ea l s e t t i ngs and to des ign sys -t ems acco rd ing ly.

A R e s e a r c h F o c u s

Wh at i s needed to i n i t i a t e a fu l l -b lown re sea rch p rog ram?Three impor t an t i ng red ien t s a r e a l r eady in p l ace . As ind i -ca t ed above , t he re i s ongo ing r e sea rch in a num ber o f d i s -c ip l ines t ha t is e i t he r d i r ec t ly conce rned wi th docum en t s o rapp l i cab le t o t he sub jec t . The re i s a l so a g rea t dea l o f ongo ingresea rch a im ed spec i f i ca l ly a tcomputationald o c u m e n t t e c h -no logy - l a rge ly the work o f com pute r s c i en t i s t s . And f ina l ly,t he re i s a c l ea r need fo r bas i c doc um en t r e sea rch , c r ea t ed bythese new t ec hno log ica l i n i t i a t i ves .

Wh a t i s needed , f i r s t o f a l l , i s t o make the po ten t i a l com-m u n i t y a w a r e o f t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f d o i n g b a s i c r e s e a r c h i n t odocumen t s and the r easons fo r so do ing . Second , t he r e l e -van t ongo ing r e sea rch need s to be be t t e r coo rd ina t ed , so tha tcon jec tu re s and r e su l t s can t r ave l be tween d i sc ip l ines hav ingd i ff e ren t vocabu la r i e s and me tho ds . A nd th i rd , a new type o fr e sea rche r, whom I w i l l ca l l a "docu me n t l i ngu i s t , " needs tobe t r a ined , who has the a t t en t ion to s t ruc tu ra l cons ide ra t ionso f t he modern l i ngu i s t , and the f ac i l i t y w i th the me thods andresu l t s o f t h i s f i e ld , bu t i sn ' t und u ly a t t ach ed to cu r r en t t heo -r i e s . Here i s a r e sea rch s t r a t egy in wh ich these r equ i r emen t sw o u l d b e u t i li z e d :

T h e m o s t f u n d a m e n t a l c h a r a c t e ri s t ic o f t h e d o c u m e n t , i twou ld se em, i s i t s r ep re sen ta t iona l na tu re - t he f ac t t ha t ce r-t a in ex te rna l, d i r ec t ly obse rvab le man i fe s t a t ions a re comm u-n ica t ive , and a re i n t en t ion a l ly des igned to be so . S t ab le con -f igu ra tions o f marks on a pag e speak to u s o f t he wea the r i nN e w Yo r k o r e v e n ts i n S o u t h e a s t A s i a ; e x a c t l y r e p r o d u c i b l ef l a shes o f l i gh t on a v ideo mon i to r can do the sam e . We g ivesugges t ive names to d i f f e ren t r ep resen ta t ion schemes - t ex t ,t ab l e s , i con ic images , and so on - w i thou t any deep unde r-s t a n d in g o f h o w p a r t i c u l a r r e p r e s e n ta t i o n s c h e m e s w o r k o rwha t p rope r t i e s a r e sha red ac ros s s chemes .

M y sugges t ion i s t h i s : t o o rgan ize a p rog ram o f bas i cdocum en t r e sea rch a s a s tudy o f r ep resen ta t ion schem es , bo tht h e t r a d it i o n a l sc h e m e s o f t h e o l d e r p a p e r - b a s e d m e d i a a n dthe evo lv ing schemes o f t he new, ac t ive med ia . (No t i ce , bythe way, t ha t I am re fe r r ing to t he documen t s t hemse lvesas r ep resen ta t ions ; no t t o t he r ep resen ta t ionso f d o c u m e n t s ,such a s t he da t a s t ruc tu re s i n t e rna l t o a compute r. ) An in -ves t iga t ion o f t h is k ind , anchore d in t he second o f t he sevenresea rch f ace t s d i scussed above ( the o rgan iza t ion o f docu-men t s ) , wou ld a l so d raw on the o the r s ix f ace t s - on docu-men t u se in pa r t i cu l a r.

To make th i s more conc re t e , imag ine an inves t iga t ion

in to the na tu re o f t ab l e s . Tab le s have ce r t a in p rope r t i e s wh ichr e c o m m e n d t h e m a s a n e a r l y s u b j e c t o f s t u dy. F i r s t, t h e yseem to sha re ce r t a in cha rac t e r i s t i c s o f t ex t , such a s t he l i nea ra r r angem en t o f ce r t a in e l emen t s ( rows and c o lumns ) , a t t hes a m e t i m e t h a t t h e y p a r t a k e o f t h e b a s i c t w o - d i m e n s i o n a l i t yo f g raph ica l images . S econd , t he re i s a l r eady a ce r t a in amoun to f l i t e r a tu re on the i r s t ruc tu re , u se , and h i s to ry, so the re a r ere su l t s t o bu i ld on o r t o t ake i s sue wi th . And th i rd , t ab l e sdon ' t s eem to have the h i e ra rch ica l " log ica l s t ruc tu re" t ha tm o s t c o m p u t e r s c i e n c e a p p r o a c h e s t o d o c u m e n t s t r u c t u r ehave a s sumed ; an unde r s t and ing o f t he i r s t ruc tu re migh t t he re -fo re b roaden the apprec i a t ion fo r t he r ange o f docum en t s t ruc -



19 2 A C M C O N F E R E N C E O N D O C U M E N T P R O C E S S I N G S Y S T E M S

tures .Th i s i nv es t iga t ion wou ld be func t iona l ly o r i en t ed , in t he

sense tha t i t wou ld seek to unde r s t and how the va r ious g raph-i ca l p rope r t i e s and r e l a t ions o f t ab l e s a r e des igned to a ffo rdp a r t i c u l a r i n fo r m a t i o n - s e e k i n g o p e r a ti o n s , b a s e d o n a s s u m p -t i o n s a b o u t t h e i r c o n te x t s o f u s e . F o r e x a m p l e , c o n s i d e r t r ai ns c h e d u l e s , w h i c h a r e t y p i c a l l y p r e s e n t ed i n t a b u l a r f o r m .4Thes e f ac i l i t a t e two r e l a t ed t a sks : t r ave l p l ann ing and ex ecu-t i o n . F o r t r a v e l p l a n n in g , v a r i o u s c o m p a r i s o n s n e e d t o b e a f -f o r d e d b e t w e e n p o s s i b l e r o u t e s a n d s e r v i c e s , s o t h e p r o s p e c -t i v e t r a v e l le r c a n a n s w e r q u e s t io n s o f t h e f o r m " w h i c h u ' a i nw i l l . . . . . . "". . ? ; f o r t r a v e l e x e c u u o n , o t h e r o p e r a t to n s a r e p r e s u m -a b l y d o m i n a n t , a s t h e t r a v e l l e r n e ed s i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t t h epart icular j o u r n e y h e h a s a l r e a d y e m b a r k e d o n . S u c c e s s f u ldes ign o f a t ab l e unde r t hese c i r cums tan ces r equ i r e s t he sk i l l -f u l m a n a g e m e n t o f g r a p h i c a l r e la t i o n s , s u c h a s a l i g n m e n t a n djux tapo s i t i on , t o bes t a ffo rd th is fu l l r ange o f ope ra t ion s .

C o n s t r u c t i n g a t h e o r y o f t a b l e s w o u l d t h e n c o n s i s t i n d e -v e l o p i n g a n a c c o u n t o f t h e s e t o f g r a p h i c a l o b j e c t s , p r o p e r ti e sand r e l a t ions conven t iona l ly u sed in t ab l e s and the in t e rp re t a -t i on ( s ) a s s ign ed to t hese to suppor t t he ope ra t ions fo r wh icht a b le s a r e i n t e n d e d ; i f w e b o r r o w e d t h e v o c a b u l a r y o f l i n -g u i s t ic s , t h e s e a s p e c t s w o u l d b e c a l l e d t a b l e s y n t a x , s e m a n -t i c s, a n d p r a g m a t i c s . I n d e v e l o p i n g t h i s ac c o u n t , o n e w o u l dp r e s u m a b l y m a k e u s e o f h i s t o r i c a l s t u d i es t o t r a c e t h e d e v e l -o p m e n t o f t h e g r a p h i c a l c o n v e n ti o n s a n d t h e p r a c t i c e s w h i c hthese conven t ion s suppor t ; c ros s -cu l tu ra l s tud ie s t o fu r the ru n d e r s t a n d t h e r a n g e o f v a r i a b i l i t y ; a n d c r a f t s t u d ie s t o p r o b et h e k n o w l e d g e o f w o r k i n g t y p o g r a p h i c d e s ig n e r s . A n d o n em i g h t t h e n a p p l y t h i s f u n c t i o n a l a n a l y s i s to u n d e r s t a n d h o wt h e i n f o r m a t i o n n o w d i s p l a y e d i n s t a t ic t a b u l a r fo r m c o u l db e m a d e a v a i l a b l e i n th e n e w, a c t i v e m e d i a . W h i l e l it e r a -tu re ex i s t s on a l l t hese a spec t s , t he sha red vocabu la ry andc o o r d i n a t i o n h a s b e e n l a c k i n g w h i c h w o u l d i n s u r e t h a t e a c hr e s e a r c h e r ' s a r e a o f e x p e r t i s e w a s a d e q u a t e l y c o n v e y e d t o

a n d a s s i m i l a t e d b y t h e o t h e r s .T h e l a rg e r r e s e a r c h s t r a te g y w o u l d t h e n c o n s i s t o f a

n u m b e r o f s t u d i e s o f d i f f er e n t d o c u m e n t e l e m e n t t y p e s a n de n c o d i n g s c h e m e s , e a c h c o n c e r n e d w i t h c h a r a c t e ri z i n g t h e irr e p r e s e n ta t i o n a l m e c h a n i s m s t h r o u g h a n u n d e r s t a n d i n g o fthe i r i n t ended uses . Ou t o f a s e r i e s o f such pa ra l l e l , coo r-d ina t ed s tud ie s , a s e t o f bas i c r ep resen ta t iona l r egu la r i t i e sw o u l d e m e rg e , s o t h a t i t w o u l d i n t h e e n d b e p o s s i b l e , a sG o o d m a n w i s h e s , to l o c a t e p a r a g r a p h s a n d p a i n t i n g s , a m o n go the r s , i n a l a rge r space o f s t ab l e , ex t e rna l r ep re sen ta t ions .

C o n c l u s i o n

In th i s pape r, I have t aken som e p re l imin a ry s t eps in exp lo r-ing a l a rge ly uncha r t ed t e r r i t o ry. I have ske t ched a p rog ramo f b a s i c r e s e a rc h i n t o t h e n a t u r e o f d o c u m e n t s - a p r o g r a mwhose in t eg r i ty s tems f rom the in t eg r i ty o f i t s sub jec t ma t -t e r, a n d w h o s e v i t a l i ty a n d u rg e n c y s t e m f r o m t h e n e e d t op r o v i d e f o u n d a t i o n s f o r t h e n e w, r a p i d l y e v o l v i n g d o c u m e n tt echno log ie s . Under ly ing th i s p re sen ta t ion i s t he des i r e t oi d e n t i fy a c o m m u n i t y o f d o c u m e n t s c h o l a r s a n d p r a c t i t io n -e r s . The map i s no t ye t d rawn , bu t t he t e r r i t o ry seems emi -n e n t l y w o r t h y o f e x p l o r a t i o n .

4 T h e s e r e m a r k s a r e b a s e d o n a d i s c u s s i o n w i t h, a n d e x a m -p l e s c o l l e c t e d b y, R a c h e l H e w s o n .

A c k n o w l e d g e m e n t s

T h e i d e a s p re s e n t e d h e r e h a v e b e e n d e v e l o p e d o v e r s e v e r alyea r s t h rough in t e rac t ions wi th Dan Bro t sky, Pa t Hayes ,R a c h e l H e w s o n , G e o f f N u n b e rg , K e n O l s o n , B r i a n S m i t h ,

R i c h a r d S o u t h a l l , a n d L u c y S u c h m a n . F o r h e l p w i t h t h i s p a -pe r, thanks to Bob Al i en , Br ig i t t e Jo rdan , Rache l Hew son ,G e o f f N u n b e rg , a n d R i c h a r d S o u t h a l l .

R e f e r e n c e s

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[4] Bi jker, W. E. , T. P. Hug hes , an d T. Pinch (eds . ) . 1987.

The Social Construction of Technological System s. Cam-br idge , Massachu se t t s : M1T Pres s .[5] Ehn, P. 1988.Work-Oriented Design o f Computer Art i -

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of Change. C a m b r i d g e , E n g l a n d : C a m b r i d g e U n i v e r -s i t y P re s s .

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[10 ] Goo dy, J . 1986 .The Logic of Wri t ing and the Orga-nization of Society. C a m b r i d g e , E n g la n d : C a m b r i d g eU n i v e r s i t y P r e s s .

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[12] ISO IS 8613. 1988.Information Processing - Text andOffice Sys tems - Off ice Do cum ent Archi tecture ( ODA)and Interchange Format .N e w Yo r k: I S O / A N S I .

[13 ] ISO IS 8879 . 1987 .Standard General ized Markup Lan-guage. N e w Yo r k: IS O / A N S I .

[14 ] Iv ins , W. M. 1953 .Prints and Visual Communication.C a m b r i d g e , M a s s a c h u s e tt s : M I T P r e s s .

[15 ] K ies l e r, S . , D . Zubrow, A . M. Moses , and V. Ge l i e r.1 9 85 . A f f e c t in C o m p u t e r - M e d i a t e d C o m m u n i c a t i o n :A n E x p e r i m e n t i n S y n c h r o n o u s Te r m i n a l - t o - Te r m i n a lDi scuss ion .Hum an-Com puter Interact ion1 1 : 77-104.

[16 ] La tou r, B . 1986 . Vi sua l i za t ion and Cogn i t ion : Th ink -i n g w i t h E y e s a n d H a n d s . I n H . K u k l i c k a n d E . L o n g(eds . ) , Knowledge and Society: Studies in the Sociol-ogy o f Culture Pas t and Present, Volume 6.G r e e n w i c h ,Connec t i cu t : J a i P re s s .

[17 ] McLuhan , M. 1962 .The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Mak-ing of Typographic Man.Toron to : Un ive r s i ty o f Toron toPres s .

[18 ] Nor r i sh , E 1984 . M ov ing Tab le s f rom Pape r t o Sc reen .Visible Language18(2) : 154-170.

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