Documenting Work and Working Documents: Perspectives from Workplace Studies, CSCW, and Genre Studies

This paper examines how organizational documents and the notion of document work is conceptualized and theorized in the fields of Workplace Studies, Computer Supported Cooperative Work, and Genre Studies. In undertaking such an analysis, attention is drawn to the wider historical and intellectual traditions in which these fields emerged, as well as to the notable similarities and differences in their theoretical and conceptual approaches to studying documents and document work. In particular it is acknowledged that studying documents and document work is closely tied to an understanding of the concept and the nature of human action and interaction. In articulating the theoretical and conceptual underpinnings of prior work in these areas, the goal is to provide researchers with an overview of relevant theories and concepts that will help more fully articulate and frame future document research.