The importance of articulation work to agency content management: balancing publication and control

This paper describes the initial results of a qualitative field study of the work required to review and approve the content on government agency Web sites. The study analyzes content management work in terms of Strauss´s conceptualization of articulation. The analysis describes examples of high and low level articulation in content review and approval including using paper, personal contact, and surveillance. Study results suggest that the articulation work present in non-software based review and approval processes helps to balance conflicting agency goals of publishing content and achieving absolute oversight over published content. It also suggests that software based content management systems may prove helpful for the management of some types of content in some situations, but it hypothesizes that actors will choose paper and face to face communication mechanisms to review and approve large amounts of new content and sensitive content.