Sorting Things Out

Sorting Things Out

Classification and Its Consequences

Geoffrey C. Bowker, Susan Leigh Star

1. A “standard” is any set of agreed-upon rules for the production of (textual or material) objects. 2. A standard spans more than one community of practice (or site of activity). It has temporal reach as well in that it persists over time. 3. Standards are deployed in making things work together over distance and heterogeneous metrics.
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