Down in the (Data)base(ment): Supporting Configuration in Organizational Information Systems.

We present a case study of a project to introduce a new organization-wide, integrated information system within the UK healthcare sector that we conducted as part of a wider, socio-technical exploration of factors influencing the dependability of computer-based systems. We report in detail on the problems of working with and evolving a standardized classification of work procedures that is central to the organizational purpose of the new IT system, and the responses of both users and of the project team to these problems. These have important implications for the usability of computer-based systems and for the dependability of the information they contain. Drawing insights from sociological studies of classification and standardization, we reflect upon the lessons for the development and implementation of computer-based systems designed to serve as "common information spaces." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]