Elektroniska dokument i informationspolitisk belysning: En fråga om makt, kontroll och förhandlingar [Electronic Documents Viewed from an Information Policy Perspective: A Question of Power, Control, and Negotiations]

Abstract

This article applies an information policy perspective on electronic document research, technology and practice. Notions of emergent, global, information and knowledge economies, some of whose basic requirements are the proliferation and commodification of flexibly accessible information in the form of electronic documents, serve as conceptual background. In this setting, electronic document technologies are developed in a social context characterised by strong interests and actors, a context which is also, in turn, affected by new technology. Therefore, power, control and negotiations are central concepts in the analysis of this low transparent process of mutual shaping. The conclusions suggest that an information policy analysis of electronic documents can help disclose ontological elements in the form of embedded ideologies and epistemologies; norms and values that de facto determine the issue of power and control over information resources in society. In conclusion, promising avenues for future research on electronic documents from information policy perspectives are presented.