Scrolling Forward

Some reflection on the book of
Scrolling Forward: Making Sense of Documents in the Digital Age
by David M. Levy - all quotes taken from book

A collection of thoughts picked out from the book in essence has been used to gain insight into the use of paper documents and the way documents could move to be digitised.

To ensure a simple break down and to understand what a document can offer the world, for this a simple receipt is broken down in order to understand what it portrays

The crucial perspective is the document captures a story a very selective one but in essence a story, in this scenario a simple proof of purchase is the function. In the context of the global economy a little receipt is pretty useful in terms of recording a transaction, more now so done digitally but the author raises how it is able to do this in a credible manner. To understand this the author recommends that you must take a step back from the receipt and actually look at the way the receipt is situated in the "web of human practices and knowledge distribution through space and time." -pg18

And so a document regardless of whether a book or receipt it is something which is able to capture a persons thoughts or ideas or some information that otherwise would be lost in time.

the discussion then takes account of how to view documents and their enabling technologies may well need to see how form, content and medium are not to be fully separated constituents in our lives and in the richness of the experience - p58

The relevance of this links in my opinion directly to the hardware research observations in how classification attempts to capture a portion of what a physical lab book offers, and what has been observed that without the entire experience (effectively all the affordances of a physical book ) then this may well be an indication to the shortcomings of the designs ?

It is also captured how digital technologies are littered with crashes, and believes a physical book will always hold a place because of what it is - an artifact of human creativity. This emotional attachment I personally think is far from how scientists potentially would see their lab books so part of the design consideration could lie in overcoming the hurdle of an attachment with paper based working ? I don't think any technology should change work flow but understand it

The author goes on to capture the problem in a nutshell "In the world of paper , documents are realised as stable, bound physical objects. Once a paper document comes into being it loses its dependence on the technologies that were used to manufacture it" - pg 152
The scenario then given how a photocopied memo loses any attachment to the technology and essentially has a freedom to be used as desired.

In addition to this an account must be made to understand the way in which technologies work this is viewed as " the service of human social aims " but my interpretation and the additional information from the author is with us(people) and how technology can work to and maintain the world.

Finally the author captures what could be viewed as a fundamental problem for the reason "When we fixate on particular forms and technologies, taking them in and of themselves to be carries of what we want either to embrace or resist.Not only do we fail to see the forms and technologies in their full complexity but we use them in their symbolic simplicity, as blunt instruments which we use to beat one another over the head. "

The author goes on to highlight how further mistakes are made we an assumption is made that one form of technology must replace another

The modes of operation only conflict when we insist that one or the other is the way to operate and what is most in need of is a balance , this is stated by the author as a depersonalised discernment of ways, whether the nature of this is questionable in the context of the lab book is one which can go on to be questioned.