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From Fief To Clan: Boisot’S Information Space Model As A Documentary Theory For Cultural And Institutional Analysis, Lin Wang, Michael Buckland

Proceedings from the Document Academy

Max Boisot (1943-2011) and his Information Space (I-Space) model are introduced. The I-Space model characterized information flow on three dimensions (codification, abstraction, and diffusion). It can be seen as a document-based model. Boisot and colleagues identifies four types of institutional information practices (bureaucracies, markets, fiefs, and clans). Chinese economic reform in the 1980s is used as a case-study to demonstrate how document configuration and infrastructure is associated with cultural and institutional change. This echoes Suzanne Briet's assertion that documentation is a cultural technique.