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Bowker, G.C. & Star, L.S. (1999). Chapter 4: Classification, coding
and coordination. In _Sorting things out: Classification and its
consequences_ (p. 135-161). Cambridge MA: MIT Press.
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Laborious explication of the difficulties of communication between
cultures, including constructed cultures such as the ICD. Difficulties
are very noticable in efforts (such as the ICD) to systematize what
would be flexible systems of categorization if there were no need for
the classification.
Underscores the notion of the suitably restricted domain discussed by
Suchman when considering the efficacy of interaction between humans
and technology. Technological solutions (of which a classification
system is a type) are only able to interact gracefully with a human or
group of humans if the domain under consideration is suitably
constrained. Constrained in this context is both bredth and depth.
The ICD is certainly not very constrained.
There's this ongoing discovery of a boundary between two things that
can be modelled in various ways:
concept | theory
categorization | classification
craft | science
flexibility | rigidity
adaptability | precision
Those "two things" are both of value and must be respected in the
design of any information system. Ignoring or deemphasizing either
will result in a failure of the system to be completely effective.
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