What is it about?
When information gets organized in the form of a document, it seems to become more authoritative and trustworthy. For example, a book is (in general) perceived as more trustworthy than a handwritten note, and a recorded podcast is more authoritative than hearsay. What is it about documents that make them more trustworthy and authoritative? In this paper, I suggest that it is the fact that documents don't really change that makes this happen; in general, as humans, we seem to consider things that are unchanging to be more trustworthy.
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Why is it important?
Every day there are more and more documents in the world, and it's becoming more important for people in society to develop skills around assessing and working with documents. If we find documents to be inherently trustworthy, then that opens us up to manipulation. For instance, certain political/commercial groups might draw on the formatting characteristics of well-respected scientific publications in order to make their documents seem more trustworthy. How is the average person supposed to catch on to this? It starts with document literacy—learning some of the conceptual aspects of documents. This paper contributes in a small way to that big discussion.
Perspectives
In my research, I examine documents both empirically and conceptually. This conceptual piece was borne out of this research, benefitting from some of the things I've been reading outside the field of document studies (such as cognitive science). In many ways, this piece is an oddball—it's rather short and somewhat of a personal reflection in its own right. This is probably clear even from the title, which draws from fables (e.g., "How the Leopard Got Its Spots"). I am delighted to have found a venue for this article which, despite its apparent weirdness, addresses a very important topic—document literacy—which has not yet been widely acknowledged. Still, I find it critical in the modern age, and my ongoing research continues to highlight its importance. This paper is but an initial foray into this area, and my future work will delve even deeper. I hope this piece inspires others to join me in asking such questions; more than anything, I want to stimulate conversation.
Dr Tim Gorichanaz
Drexel University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: How the document got its authority, Journal of Documentation, March 2016, Emerald,
DOI: 10.1108/jd-09-2015-0117.
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