{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,16]],"date-time":"2026-01-16T02:49:34Z","timestamp":1768531774238,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2009,1,16]],"date-time":"2009-01-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1232064000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2009,1,16]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Purpose<\/jats:title><jats:p>The purpose of this paper is to report on a qualitative study of data management and recordkeeping in the research sciences and their roles in information creation and professional identity formation.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title><jats:p>The study uses ethnographic fieldwork data in an academic laboratory to examine documentation practices as a part of the trajectory of scientific professionalization. The article examines ethnographic fieldnotes and medical records as cognate areas that provide insight into the topic.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Findings<\/jats:title><jats:p>The paper argues that scientific recordkeeping is essential for learning to balance professional standards and personal knowledge, establishing comfort with ambiguity, and can be a process marked by ritual, anxiety, and affect. The article does this by discussing the creation of record from data, tacit knowledge as part of that process, and the process of legitimate peripheral participation (LPP).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Research limitations\/implications<\/jats:title><jats:p>The qualitative nature of the study suggests the need for similar studies in other environments.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title><jats:p>The article emphasizes recordkeeping as a part of documentation studies by taking an interdisciplinary, ethnographic approach that is still emergent in information studies. The article is written primarily for fellow researchers.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/00220410910926167","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2009,1,17]],"date-time":"2009-01-17T07:06:45Z","timestamp":1232176005000},"page":"151-165","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":16,"title":["Ambiguity and legitimate peripheral participation in the creation of scientific documents"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"65","author":[{"given":"Kalpana","family":"Shankar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Abbott, A. (1988), The System of Professions: An Essay on the Division of Expert Labor, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.","DOI":"10.7208\/chicago\/9780226189666.001.0001"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b2","unstructured":"Agar, M. (1996), The Professional Stranger: An Informal Introduction to Ethnography, new ed., Academic Press, London (originally published 1980)."},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Amann, K. and Knorr Cetina, K. (1988), \u201cThe fixation of (visual) evidence\u201d, Human Studies, Vol. 11 Nos 2\u20103, pp. 133\u201069.","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00177302"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Berg, M. (1997a), \u201cPatient care information systems and health care work: a sociotechnical approach\u201d, International Journal of Medical Informatics, Vol. 55 No. 2, pp. 87\u2010101.","DOI":"10.1016\/S1386-5056(99)00011-8"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b6","unstructured":"Botticelli, P. (2000), \u201cRecords appraisal in network organizations\u201d, Archivaria, Vol. 49 No. 3, pp. 161\u201091."},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b7","unstructured":"Bowker, G. (2006), Memory Practices in the Sciences, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA."},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bowker, G. and Berg, M. (1997), \u201cThe multiple bodies of the medical record: towards a sociology of an artefact\u201d, Sociological Quarterly, Vol. 38 No. 3, pp. 511\u201035.","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1533-8525.1997.tb00490.x"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bowker, G. and Star, S.L. (1999), Sorting Things Out: Classification and Its Consequences, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/6352.001.0001"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bowler, I. (1995), \u201cFurther notes on record taking and making in maternity care: the case of South Asian descent women\u201d, The Sociological Review, Vol. 43 No. 1, pp. 36\u201051.","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-954X.1995.tb02477.x"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b12","unstructured":"Buckland, M. (2007), \u201cNorthern light: fresh insight into enduring concerns\u201d, in Skare, R., Lund, N.W. and V\u00e5rheim, A. (Eds), A Document (Re)turn: Contributions from a Research Field in Transition, Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main."},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Burrage, K., Hood, L. and Ragan, M.A. (2006), \u201cAdvanced computing for systems biology\u201d, Briefings in Bioinformatics, Vol. 7 No. 4, pp. 390\u20108.","DOI":"10.1093\/bib\/bbl033"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b14","unstructured":"Coffey, A. (1999), The Ethnographic Self: Fieldwork and the Representation of Identity, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA."},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Covi, L.M. (2000), \u201cDebunking the myth of the Nintendo Generation: how doctoral students introduce new electronic communication practices into university research\u201d, Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Vol. 51 No. 14, pp. 1284\u201094.","DOI":"10.1002\/1097-4571(2000)9999:9999<::AID-ASI1045>3.0.CO;2-Z"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Delamont, S. and Atkinson, P. (2001), \u201cDoctoring uncertainty: mastering craft knowledge\u201d, Social Studies of Science, Vol. 31 No. 1, pp. 87\u2010107.","DOI":"10.1177\/030631201031001005"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Emerson, R.M., Fretz, R.I. and Shaw, L.L. (1995), Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.","DOI":"10.7208\/chicago\/9780226206851.001.0001"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b20","unstructured":"Frohmann, B. (2007), \u201cDocumentation, materiality, and autonomous agency of documentation\u201d, in Skare, R., Lund, N.W. and V\u00e5rheim, A. (Eds), A Document (Re)turn: Contributions from a Research Field in Transition, Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main."},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Harper, R.H.R., O'Hara, K.P.A., Sellen, A.J. and Duthie, D.J.R. (1997), \u201cToward the paperless hospital?\u201d, British Journal of Anesthesiology, Vol. 78 No. 6, pp. 762\u20107.","DOI":"10.1093\/bja\/78.6.762"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b23","unstructured":"Holmes, F.L. (1990), \u201cLaboratory notebooks: can the daily record illuminate the broader picture?\u201d, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 134 No. 4, pp. 349\u201066."},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Jackson, J.E. (1990), \u201cD\u00e9j\u00e0 entendu: the liminal quality of anthropological fieldnotes\u201d, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 8\u201043.","DOI":"10.1177\/089124190019001002"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b60","unstructured":"Kanare, H.M. (1985), Writing the Laboratory Notebook, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC."},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Klein, U. (2001), \u201cPaper tools in experimental cultures\u201d, Studies in the History and Philosophy of the Sciences, Vol. 32 No. 2, pp. 265\u2010302.","DOI":"10.1016\/S0039-3681(01)00010-3"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Knorr\u2010Cetina, K. (1999), Epistemic Cultures: How the Sciences Make Knowledge, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.","DOI":"10.4159\/9780674039681"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lamb, R. and Davidson, E. (2005), \u201cInformation and communication technology: challenges to scientific professional identity\u201d, The Information Society, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 1\u201024.","DOI":"10.1080\/01972240590895883"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b28","unstructured":"Latour, B. (1987), Science in Action, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA."},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Latour, B. and Woolgar, S. (1986), Laboratory Life: The Construction of Scientific Facts, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.","DOI":"10.1515\/9781400820412"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991), Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511815355"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b31","unstructured":"Lynch, M. (1985), Art and Artifact in Laboratory Science: A Study of Shop Work and Shop Talk in a Research Laboratory, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London."},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b61","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"McGinn, M.K. and Rolph, W\u2010M. (1999), \u201cPreparing students for competent scientific practice: implications of recent research in science and technology studies\u201d, Educational Researcher, Vol. 28 No. 3, pp. 14\u201024.","DOI":"10.3102\/0013189X028003014"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b32","unstructured":"Macrina, F.L. (1995), Scientific Integrity: Introductory Text with Cases, American Society of Microbiology Press, Washington, DC."},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b33","unstructured":"Marshall, C. and Rossman, G.B. (1989), Designing Qualitative Research, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA."},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ngin, P.M. (2001), \u201cRecordkeeping practices of nurses in hospitals\u201d, The American Archivist, Vol. 57 No. 3, pp. 616\u201031.","DOI":"10.17723\/aarc.57.4.6794745478r17002"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b62","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Palmer, C.L. (2005), \u201cScholarly work and the shaping of digital access\u201d, Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Vol. 56 No. 11, pp. 1140\u201053.","DOI":"10.1002\/asi.20204"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Putnam, R. (2001), Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY.","DOI":"10.1145\/358916.361990"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b36","unstructured":"Rayl, A.J.S. (1991), \u201cMisconduct case stresses importance of good notekeeping\u201d, The Scientist, Vol. 5 No. 22, p. 18, 20."},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b37","unstructured":"Sarini, M., Blanzieri, E., Giorgini, P. and Moser, C. (2004), \u201cFrom actions to suggestions: supporting the work of biologists through laboratory notebooks\u201d, Proceedings of 6th International Conference on the Design of Cooperative Systems (COOP2004), French Riviera, France, pp. 131\u201046."},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Shankar, K. (2004), \u201cRecordkeeping in the production of scientific knowledge: an ethnographic study\u201d, Archival Science, Vol. 4 Nos 3\u20104, pp. 367\u201082.","DOI":"10.1007\/s10502-005-2600-1"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Shankar, K. (2007), \u201cOrder from chaos: the poetics and pragmatics of scientific recordkeeping\u201d, Journal of the American Society of Information Science and Technology, Vol. 58 No. 10, pp. 1457\u201066.","DOI":"10.1002\/asi.20625"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Stocking, G.W. Jr (1960), \u201cFranz Boas and the culture concept in historical perspective\u201d, American Anthropologist, Vol. 68 No. 8, pp. 867\u201082.","DOI":"10.1525\/aa.1966.68.4.02a00010"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b41","unstructured":"Taylor, K.T. (2006), \u201cThe status of electronic laboratory notebooks for chemistry and biology\u201d, Current Opinion in Drug Discovery & Development, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 348\u201053."},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Trace, C.B. (2007), \u201cInformation creation and the notion of membership\u201d, Journal of Documentation, Vol. 63 No. 1, pp. 142\u201064.","DOI":"10.1108\/00220410710723920"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b43","unstructured":"Turkle, S. (1997), Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY."},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Walsham, G. (1998), \u201cIT and changing professional identity: micro\u2010studies and macro\u2010theory\u201d, Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Vol. 49 No. 12, pp. 1081\u20109.","DOI":"10.1002\/(SICI)1097-4571(1998)49:12<1081::AID-ASI4>3.0.CO;2-R"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Weiss, M. (1997), \u201cFor doctor's eyes only: medical records in two Israeli hospitals\u201d, Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 283\u2010302.","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1005340430217"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wenger, E. (1998), Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511803932"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b47","unstructured":"Whyte, W.H. (1955), The Organization Man, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, PA."},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_b49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wilensky, H. (1980), \u201cThe professionalization of everyone\u201d, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 70 No. 2, pp. 137\u201058.","DOI":"10.1086\/223790"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_frg5","unstructured":"Berg, M. (1997b), Rationalizing Medical Work: Decision\u2010Support Techniques and Medical Practices, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA."},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_frg11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Buckland, M. (1997), \u201cWhat is a document?\u201d, Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Vol. 48 No. 9, pp. 804\u20109.","DOI":"10.1002\/(SICI)1097-4571(199709)48:9<804::AID-ASI5>3.0.CO;2-V"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_frg17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Duff, W.M. (1998), \u201cHarnessing the power of warrant\u201d, American Archivist, Vol. 61 No. 1, pp. 88\u2010105.","DOI":"10.17723\/aarc.61.1.j75wk8152n5u7r52"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_frg19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Freedland, K. and Carney, R.M. (1992), \u201cData management and accountability in behavioral and biomedical research\u201d, American Psychologist, Vol. 47 No. 5, pp. 640\u20105.","DOI":"10.1037\/0003-066X.47.5.640"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_frg21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Griesemer, J.R. (1992), \u201cThe role of instruments in the generative analysis of science\u201d, in Clarke, A.E. and Fujimura, J.H. (Eds), The Right Tools for the Job, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.","DOI":"10.1515\/9781400863136.47"},{"key":"key2022013120243319200_frg44","unstructured":"Turner, V.W. (1969), The Ritual Process, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY."}],"container-title":["Journal of Documentation"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emeraldinsight.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1108\/00220410910926167","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/00220410910926167\/full\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/00220410910926167\/full\/html","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,24]],"date-time":"2025-07-24T23:38:02Z","timestamp":1753400282000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emerald.com\/jd\/article\/65\/1\/151-165\/223564"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2009,1,16]]},"references-count":52,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2009,1,16]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1108\/00220410910926167"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/00220410910926167","relation":{},"ISSN":["0022-0418"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0022-0418","type":"print"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2009,1,16]]}}}