A stage-activity process model facilitating workflow management for web publishing

Internet Computing and E-Commerce Lab, Department of ComputingRefereed conference paper2001-2002 > Academic research: refereed > Refereed conference paperVersion of RecordPublishe

UNDERSTANDING THE DIGITAL NEWSPAPER GENRE: MEDIUM VS. MESSAGE

Over the last two decades, the cultural and cognitive artifacts that information and communication technologies circulate have become entangled with human and technical actors to the point of inseparability. These entanglements are primarily driven by the proliferation and wide adoption of online and mobile technologies. As a result, we discern the migration of previously physical artifacts to the digital realm and a transformation of the relations between users, information, and technology. A prominent example of the shift from physical to digital is the transformation of the print newspaper genre to the digital newspaper genre. Adopting a sociomaterial approach and building on genre theory, this paper presents an investigation of the nature and emergence of the digital newspaper based on an ethnographic study of a major news and publishing company. We find significant changes in the context, the news offering, and the roles of actors involved with the newspaper artifact ? emerging with the introduction and adoption of disparate media. Drawing on the empirical findings, we conclude that the digitization of the newspaper emphasizes the central importance of the medium and transforms the author-reader relations from interaction to intra-action. Hence, the print to digital shift is demonstrated to have profoundly altered the very notion of the newspaper genre

A convergence of modes: present status of online news sites a content analysis of 100 online newspaper web sites

This study examines the current status of online news sites in terms of their level of convergence, and how they are affected by different organizational factors such as organizational influence, cross media partnerships and circulation size. A content analysis of the top 100 circulated newspaper dailies in the United States was conducted to provide understanding as to the current status of these online newspaper sites. A number of categories were examined including newspaper circulation size, updatedness, cross media partnership/ ownership, and level of convergence. Results showed that the majority of the Internet newspaper sites examined shared a media partnership on their site. It also showed that a significant amount of these newspaper Web sites had a high level of convergence, and that those with cross media partnerships had a higher level of convergence than those that did not have any partnerships. The study advances our knowledge on how these online newspaper sites have utilized technology in information delivery, as well as what types of partnerships they share and if they utilized their media partners\u27 information. Future studies may further examine the different types of partnerships involved, whether they were strictly parent owned partners or simply affiliated partnerships. Also, time will only allow technology to advance even further, allowing further studies to examine the level of convergence on newspaper Web sites in the future, and possibly whether cross media partnerships still show a higher level of convergence over individually owned newspaper organizations

Identity metamorphoses in digital disruption: a relational theory of identity

Digital technologies have disrupted a variety of organizations; however, Information Systems research has yet to explore in-depth why this may be occurring or the implications of this process for those involved. In this paper we present an exemplary case of digital technology disruption in a newspaper company - an organization in the midst of an identity crisis. On the basis of ethnographic data, we explore the changes that resulted from the introduction of the digital medium, and how this has led to the evolution of the newspaper, as well as the metamorphosis of identities of the company, the company's practitioners, and the consumers of the company's content. Our findings suggest that shifts in the evolutionary trajectory of an organization can be traced to the rate and nature of identity metamorphoses among its key actors. Hence, in order to navigate and adapt to digital disruptions, we argue that an ongoing strategic renegotiation of the identities of all the actors involved is not only possible, but is required for an organization's survival. In doing so, we provide a relational theory of identity

From paper to digital documents : Challenging and improving the SGML approach

This research has been initiated on the basis of practical experiences in developing a relatively large SGML system at the University of Oslo. This thesis contributes to the field of information systems, with a particular focus on document systems. The aim of this work is to inform the design of document systems by considering the transformation from paper to digital documents in organizations. The Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML, ISO 8879) approach is emphasized. The SGML approach takes the documents' structure and content as the starting point in design, and regards the document as a collection of structured information. This approach is challenged and tentatively improved by empirical studies of documents in use and theoretical considerations of artifacts at work. The research approach has been an Action Case, as defined by Vidgen and Braa (1997). The interpretation of the transformation process from paper to digital documents is based mainly on an in-depth case study that was conducted at a Norwegian news agency from January 1996 to March 1998. The empirical findings are discussed according to theoretical concepts that emphasize the significance of artifacts at work to illuminate the various roles of documents at work. Concepts from the Actor Network Theory (ANT) (for example, see Callon, 1986; Latour, 1987; Law, 1986) are applied to emphasize the interrelations of humans and artifacts, as well as the importance of artifacts' properties in these relations. The concepts of 'boundary object' (Star and Griesemer; 1989) and 'borderline issues' (Brown and Duguid, 1994) are applied to get various perspectives on the actor-network. The study illustrates that it is challenging to substitute paper documents with SGML documents. Firstly, two different types of technology, with different properties and features, are exchanged. By removing paper documents, we also remove resources that go beyond the canonical meaning of the artifact. These resources are related to paper as a technology. Secondly, the document perspective in SGML is too restricted in relation to the various perspectives on documents in practical use. The emphasis on structure complicates the production of documents. Thirdly, the application of shared document models across work practices turns the various heterogeneous actor-networks into one network, which requires a common objective among the actors involved. The dilemma of "who does the job and who gets the benefits" (Grudin, 1989; 1994) arises as well. The study indicates that an investigation of the actor-networks that include documents provides an insight into the more hidden aspects of work. By regarding documents' central, peripheral, local and shared properties, one can gain an understanding of how documents are embedded in work, including the importance of documents and related artifacts to aspects such as awareness, articulation and coordination of work. The properties determine how things become interrelated into heterogeneous networks. The research shows how a document's properties or inscriptions are essential to its production and application in use. Insight into these prerequisites helps us to understand how the computer system can fit into work practices, even if we do have no guarantees that it will be used in the way that we expect. According to design, work practices are improved by changing the technical properties or the technical fundamentals, by adding various inscriptions into the system. This thesis describes how an existing system was improved by the use of 'gateways'. In the design of the gateways, the idea has been to keep the technical possibilities that SGML provides, and at the same time take into account our knowledge about the paperwork