I first encountered the term boundary object when reading %u201CDistributing intelligence, organizing diversity,%u201D [PDF]
a study of a silicon alley new media firm. In it David Stark,
referencing Susan Star (Star & Griesemer, 1989), refers to the
wireframe as an example of a boundary object as it is %u201Cstable enough to
circulate, ambiguous enough to be an object of multiple meanings.%u201D It%u2019s
interesting to think about the potential for a number of IA deliverables to eventually become boundary objects. Peter adds
What
Star teaches us is that the fact that we all understand this term
differently is not a problem. The boundary object serves to bring
different communities of practice together.
Star, S. L.
and J. R. Griesemer. 1989. %u201CInstitutional Ecology, %u2018Translations,%u2019 and
Boundary Objects: Amateurs and Professionals in Berkeley%u2019s Museum of
Vertebrate Zoology, 1907 - 1939.%u201D Social Studies of Science 19:
387-420.
