boundary_objects


 * Boundary objects**

//todo // define boundary objects //todo // history of 'boundary objects'

boundary object: A term coined by Susan Leigh Star (1988; c.f. Star, 1989; Bowker and Star, 1999; and also Hildreth, 2004, p. 59 - regarding reification, artefacts, and boundary objects).

See also Peter Morville's notion of the sociosemantic web.

The concept of boundary objects is important in the Tagunity framework since boundary objects are part of theoretical work in multiple contexts. In his discussion of the sociosemantic web Peter Morville (an information architect), suggests the Internet, as a whole, can be considered an important boundary object in its own right. Wenger (1998, 105-8, 247) discusses boundary objects in the context of his work on the theory of Communities of Practice, and Donald Hislop (2005, p. 82-83) discusses boundary objects in the context of his approach to knowledge management, and knowledge sharing.

//todo// > see Hildreth (2004) 1156425024

Brown and Duguid > The ease or difficulty of moving knowledge is a reflection of its social context. Social strategies for promoting the spread of knowledge between communities can be described in terms of 'translation,' 'brokering,' and '**boundary objects**.' Knowledge often travels more easily between organizations than it does within them. Organizing knowledge across hybrid communities is the essential activity of organizational management. (Brown & Duguid, 1998, abstract, empahisis added)

CoPs as boundary object
Martin, Hatzakis, and Lycett take a communities of pratice (CoPs) theory to develop framework they suggest can be used as a 'boundary object' to bridge the "perceived gap between" technology centric and more social- or relationships-centric approaches to understanding knowledge creation and sharing in organizations. The propose that "cultivating a CoP between business and IT can be a holistic way to manage the dynamics of knowledge sharing in organizations," (2004, Abstract).

References & further reading
Brown, J. S., & Duguid, P. (1998). Organizing knowledge. //California Management Review, 40//(3), 90-111.

Martin, V. A., Hatzakis, T., & Lycett, M. (2004). Cultivating a community of practice between business and IT. In P. Hildreth & C. Kimble (Eds.), //Knowledge networks: Innovation through communities of practice//. Hershey, PA: Idea Group.

Star, S. L. (1989). The structure of ill-structured solutions: Boundary objects and heterogeneous distributed problem solving. //Distributed Artificial Intelligence, 2//, 37-54.

Star, S. L., & Griesemer, J. (1989). Institutional ecology, translations and boundary objects: Amateurs and professionals in Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 1907-1939. //Social Studies of Science, 19//, 387-420.