Form-ing institutional order: the scaffolding of lists and identifiers

Beynon-Davies, Paul ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3229-3234 2016. Form-ing institutional order: the scaffolding of lists and identifiers. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 67 (11) , pp. 2738-2753. 10.1002/asi.23613

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Abstract

This paper examines the central place of the list and the associated concept of an identifier within the scaffolding of contemporary institutional order. These terms are deliberately chosen to make strange and help unpack the constitutive capacity of information systems and information technology within and between contemporary organisations. We draw upon the substantial body of work by John Searle to help understand the place of lists and identifiers in the constitution of institutional order. To enable us to ground our discussion of the potentiality and problematic associated with lists we describe a number of significant instances of list-making, situated particularly around the use of identifiers to refer to people, places and products. The theorisation developed allows us to better explain not only the significance imbued within lists and identifiers but the key part they play in form-ing the institutional order. We also hint at the role such symbolic artefacts play within breakdowns in institutional order.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Business (Including Economics)
Subjects:	Z Bibliography. Library Science. Information Resources > Z665 Library Science. Information Science
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	1532-2890
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Date of Acceptance:	13 July 2015
Last Modified:	05 May 2023 19:43
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/75330

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