Documentality Beyond Documents

The question "What is a document?" received increased attention during the 1990s with a revival of interest in the ideas of Paul Otlet (1934) and Suzanne Briet (1951) and in arguments to the effect that any physical object might, in the right context, be regarded as evidence of something and, therefore, could be considered to be a "document."1 The Oxford English Dictionary reveals that, in the past, "document" was used for oral communications, lessons, warnings, and, more generally, whatever is concerned with evidence or had an instructive effect. There has been some acceptance of this extended use of "document," but also questions concerning the role of intentionality and some rejection.2Buckland (1991b) addressed the multiplicity of uses of the word "information" by suggesting that most of them could be sorted into three categories:* Information-as-knowledge, meaning the knowledge imparted through communication;* Information-as-process, the process of becoming informed;* Information-as-thing, denoting bits, bytes, books, and other physical media.The third category, the most prevalent use of the word "information," includes any material thing or presentation (such as a radio announcement or television documentary) perceived as instructive. In this third sense, 'information' becomes a synonym for a broad view of 'document.'3Against this background, three major views of "document" can be identified:1. The conventional, material view. This sees documents as graphic records, usually of textual form, inscribed or displayed on a flat surface (clay tablet, paper, microfilm, computer screen) that are material, local, and, generally, transportable. These objects are made as documents. The limits of inclusion are unclear. Some have argued, for example, for the inclusion of terrestrial globes and of sculptures under this heading.2. An instrumental view. On this view almost anything can be made to serve as a document, to signify something, to be held up as constituting evidence of some sort. Models, educational toys, natural history collections, and archaeological traces can be considered in this category. Before the adoption of military uniforms, it was hard for a soldier in battle to know who was friend and who was enemy. In a sixth-century battle between Welsh and Saxons, fought in a field of leeks, Saint David instructed the Welsh to indicate their identity to each other by wearing a leek as an emblem. The leek documented Welsh identity by providing a code to those who understood it and remains a national emblem of Wales. In modem English it would seem a stretch to refer to these leeks as "documents." Nevertheless, in conveying a message in much the same way that textual labels would have, they performed as if they were documents.Briet's classic discussion of documentality in her manifesto Qu'est-ce que la documentation? famously asserted that a specimen of a newly discovered species of antelope, when positioned in a taxonomy and in a cage, was made to serve as a document (Briet 1951). This view follows from her assertion that bibliography and documentation are properly considered to be concerned with access to evidence and not just with records. Briet focuses on objects made into documents or made to serve as documents.3. A semiotic view. The two previous views emphasize the creation of documents and imply intentionality. Yet both are inadequate on a semiotic view in which anything could be considered as a document if it is regarded as evidence of something regardless of what its creator (if any) intended (if anything). This third view includes cases in which, unlike (2) and (3), there is no creative intent, including natural signs.These three viewsmade as, made into, and considered as-are progressively more inclusive.The semiotic view is also significant because it calls into question definitions of documents as social objects (as in Ferraris [2013]). …