1 Issue 7: The development of coordinative practices Development of coordinative practices as a distributed cooperative process. Amendment and adaptation Combination and recombination Aggregation and segmentation.

2 Issue 3: The concept of protocol The concept of coordinative protocols i.e. members’ rules for regulating their interaction: the concept of protocol as an analytic concept

Material Artifacts and the Negotiation of Boundaries in the Design of a Museum Exhibition California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology – Cal(IT) 2 University of California, Irvine, California Ordering Systems Workshop – December 7, 2006 Charlotte P. Lee, PhD

4 Boundary Objects (BO) Boundary objects are those objects that both inhabit several communities of practice and satisfy the informational requirements of each of them. Boundary objects are thus both plastic enough to adapt to local needs and constraints of the several parties employing them, yet robust enough to maintain a common identity across sites. They are weakly structured in common use and become strongly structured in individual-site use. These objects may be abstract or concrete (Bowker and Star 1999). Origins Definition Two major factors: boundary objects and methods standardization Methods standardization less glamourous sibling Almost all examples in the original text include standardization Standardization is integral to boundary objects

5 Case Study Ethnographic study of a group of designers creating an exhibition about dogs at a large natural history museum Research Questions –What communities of practice are involved in the design of this exhibition? –How do members of a design group comprised of people from different communities of practice collaborate? –How are artifacts used by the design group?

6 The Design Group as an Intersection Between Communities of Practice Functional units Education, Fabrication, Design, Curation Professional organizations Industrial Design, (Museum) Visitor Studies Other affiliations Previous employment (e.g. working in a particular museum genre), professional training, educational background (e.g. major area of study at university)

7 Boundary Negotiating Artifacts Boundary negotiating artifacts are artifacts that test and establish boundaries, practices, and standards. The artifacts I describe are distinct from boundary objects because rather than cleanly crossing boundaries they cross roughly, if at all, and are sometimes used to negotiate the boundaries themselves. Individual Exhibit For Self Use Conceptual Design Whole Exhibition For Other Physical Design Exhibition Artifacts

8 Boundary Negotiating Artifacts Five Types: Inclusion Artifacts Self-explanation Artifacts Compilation Artifacts Structuring Artifacts Borrowed Artifacts

9 Inclusion Artifact Example: Object Theater

10 Self-explanation Artifact Example: Martin’s Journals

11 Self-explanation Artifact Example: Dogs Images and Artifacts Table

12 Compilation Artifact Example: Kiosk Sketch

13 Structuring Artifact Example: Curator’s Narrative

14 Structuring Artifact Example: Design Criteria Diagram

15 Structuring Artifact Example: Concept Map

16 Borrowed Artifacts: Self-explanation Artifact Composed of Clippings From Borrowed Artifacts Old Narrative New Narrative Concept Sketch Floor Plan Borrowed Artifacts

17 Summary: Boundary Negotiating Artifacts Surrounded by sets of practices that may or may not be agreed upon by participants Facilitate the crossing of boundaries (transmitting information) Facilitate the pushing and establishing of boundaries (dividing labor) May seem “effortful” as opposed to effortless Fluid--often incorporated or transformed into other artifacts Can be largely sufficient for collaboration Possible predecessors of boundary objects

Between Chaos and Routine Boundary Negotiating Artifacts in Collaboration California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology – Cal(IT) 2 University of California, Irvine, California European Conference on CSCW – September 22, 2005 Charlotte P. Lee, PhD