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

Variáveis estruturas para uma expressão do movimento na comunicação gráfica

Dissertação para obtenção do grau de Doutor em Design, apresentada na Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade Técnica de Lisboa.O presente projecto de investigação tem como objecto de estudo o movimento e a tipografia digital. Considerando a falta de uma epistemologia que associe o design de comunicação às novas tecnologias da informação e a outros domínios complementares e salientando a necessidade de uma abordagem científica ao estudo dos elementos que estruturam o grafismo na comunicação em movimento, o principal objectivo deste trabalho consiste no estabelecimento de uma gramática funcional aplicada ao design de comunicação. Utilizou-se uma metodologia mista de base qualitativa, assente em duas vertentes: uma contextualização teórica, produto de uma crítica literária abrangente de várias áreas de conhecimento, especíicas ou complementares do design de comunicação: a semiótica, a percepção visual, a tipograia e os suportes digitais; uma recolha e selecção de variáveis do movimento, completado com um estudo de casos relevantes; um estudo da legibilidade das fontes e do efeito semântico do movimento aplicado à tipografiaia digital, cujos resultados são analisados e validados por um grupo de foco. O principal resultado desta tese consiste num contributo para uma redefinição e uma actualização de procedimentos no que respeita aos actuais suportes tecnológicos.ABSTRACT: The aim of this research project is to study movement and digital typography. Considering the lack of any epistemology associating communication design to the new information technologies and other complemental ields, while underscoring the need for a scientiic approach to the study of elements that structure graphism when applied to communication in movement, this work sets out primarily to establish a functional grammar to be applied to communication design. A qualitative-based mixed methodology was used, looking at the subject from two different angles: a theoretical contextualization, the outcome of a literary critique encompassing various areas of knowledge that are specific or complemental to communication design: semiotics, visual perception, typography and digital supports; a collection and selection of movement variables, enhanced with a study of relevant cases; a study on the legibility of sources and the semantic effect of movement as applied to digital typography, the results of which are analyzed and validated by a focus group. The main conclusion of this theory contributes to redeining and updating procedures in relation to current technological media.N/