# Reproduced and emergent genres of communication on the World-Wide Web

Kevin Crowston

Syracuse University School of Information Studies
4-206 Centre for Science and Technology
Syracuse, NY 13244-4100
Phone: +1 (315) 443-1676
FAX: +1 (315) 443-5806
crowston@syr.edu

Marie Williams

Web Architechs, Consulting Partners
206 Meadowbrook Dr.
Syracuse, NY 13210
Phone: +1 (315) 426-0272
Fax: +1 (315) 426-0679
spock@alumni.si.umich.edu

Keywords: communications genres, World-Wide Web, structuration theory

Draft of July 1996.
To be presented at the Hawaii International Conference on Systems Science, January 1997, Wailea, HI.

# Abstract

The World-Wide Web is growing quickly and being applied to many new types of communications. As a basis for studying organizational communications, Yates and Orlikowski (1992; Orlikowski and Yates, 1994) proposed using genres. They defined genres as "typified communicative actions characterized by similar substance and form and taken in response to recurrent situations" (Yates and Orlikowski, 1992, p. 299). They further suggested that communications in a new media, such as the World-Wide Web, will show both reproduction or adaptation of existing communicative genres as well as the emergence of new genres.

We examined 100 randomly selected Web pages and categorized the type of genre represented. Many of the genres we found, such as books, scripts, etc., were familiar from the paper world, while a few, such as hotlists and home pages, were unique to the Web. Perhaps most interestingly, we saw a few examples of genres being adapted to take advantage of the linking and interactivity of the new medium, such as solicitations for help and genealogies.

Genres are useful because they are more easily recognized and understood by recipients of the communications. Therefore, we suggest that Web site designers consider the genres that are appropriate for their situation and attempt to reuse familiar genres. More explicit attention to genres may also speed the wider acceptance of newly emerging genres of communication unique to the Web.

# 1. Introduction

The World-Wide Web (or the Web) is an Internet client-server communication system for retrieving and displaying multi-media hypertext documents (Berners-Lee, et al., 1994). Its main advantage over earlier Internet systems is its merger of retrieval and display tools and its capacity for handling formatted text, embedded graphics and other media, and point-and-click links to other documents. As well, many browsers are capable of seamlessly retrieving information using older protocols (FTP, Gopher, Usenet News) and automatically launching other applications to display other Internet document types. Over the past several years, the Web has clearly become the most popular Internet application as individuals, businesses and other organizations have rushed to establish Web presences.

What is less clear is how the Web can or will be used by these diverse groups. Many organizations see the Web primarily as a cheap means of publishing information and are simply moving existing documents to the new medium. However, a few are experimenting with its capabilities to communicate and interact in novel ways, creating new "genres" of communication (Campbell and Jamieson, 1978; Harrell and Linkugel, 1978; Miller, 1984). For example, Andersen Consulting is experimenting with a Web-based agent, Bargin Finder, to comparison shop for music CDs. Simulations, access to customer information databases and interactions with experts are all possible in this new medium.

Rather than working on the technology, we were interested in studying the Web as a social phenomenon, focusing in particular on the variety of communicative practices it supports. The purpose of this study was to describe the range of genres of communication in use on the Web. Communicative genre is defined generally as accepted types of communications sharing common form, content or purpose, such as an inquiry, letter, memo or meeting. Note that the genre is not identical to the medium of the communication-a memo may be realized on paper or in an electronic mail message, while electronic mail may be used to deliver memos or inquiries. In some cases, however, medium may influence how genres are accepted. We were particularly interested in studying how the adoption of a new communication media, the Web, might be leading to adaptation of existing genres and the emergence of new ones.

# 2. Theoretical background

Rhetoricians since Aristotle have attempted to classify communications into categories or "genres" with similar form, topic or purpose, and numerous definitions of genre have been debated in that community (e.g., Campbell and Jamieson, 1978; Harrell and Linkugel, 1978; Miller, 1984). Other groups have also struggled with the notion of document types; for example, information scientists have included rules for document types in SGML (Dollar, 1994).

More recently, Yates and Orlikowski (1992; Orlikowski and Yates, 1994) proposed using genres as a basis for studying communications in organizations. They defined genres as "a distinctive type of communicative action, characterized by a socially recognized communicative purpose and common aspects of form" ( Orlikowski and Yates, 1994, p. 543). In other words, given a socially recognized need to communicate (i.e., a purpose, Bitzer, 1968), individuals will typically express similar social motives, themes and topics in a communication with similar physical and linguistic characteristics (i.e., form), that is, they will communicate in a recognized genre.

Some genres are defined primarily in terms of purpose, such as a proposal or inquiry; others in terms of the physical form, such as a booklet or brochure. However, most genres imply a combination of purpose and form, such as a newsletter, which communicates "the news of the day", including multiple short articles and is distributed periodically to subscribers or members of an organization.

This paper, for example, is an example of the social science paper genre, commonly used when communicating scientific results in a community of social scientists to advance the state of knowledge and the authors' careers. It has a form familiar to a social scientist: a title, authors and affiliations, sections for introduction, theory, method, data and discussion, citations, a bibliography, etc. Other common genres include letters and memos, project team meetings and TV sitcoms, all immediately recognizable by their typical purpose and characteristic form.

The simple notion of genre can be extended in several directions. First, as the examples illustrate, genres form a hierarchy. For example, the social science paper is a special case of a more general research paper genre, which in turn is a type of paper. Other types of research papers include computer science implementation papers, biology papers, etc. These genres share some similarities, such as a title and bibliography, but differ in other particulars, such as the expected section headings, types of arguments, etc. Similarly, TV sitcoms are a special case of TV shows in general, project team meetings of meetings, and so on. Rather than argue about the proper level of analysis for a genre, we believe it is most useful to follow Yates and Orlikowski and consider genres at any of these different levels.

Second, multiple genres may be linked or embedded to form a more complex pattern of communication. As Orlikowski and Yates pointed out, some communications use multiple genres simultaneously, such as a proposal embedded in a memo embedded in an e-mail. As well, multiple communications may be performed in a recognizable pattern, what Bazerman (1995) called a genre system. Examples include the sequence of examination and cross examination in a trial, or the cycle of article submission to a journal or conference, reviews and final acceptance or rejection letters. Features of a genre may enable their use in a genre system: for example, page numbers in a technical paper make it possible to cite concepts or quotations from the paper, thus binding the paper into the literature.

Finally, Orlikowski and Yates (1994, p. 546-547) introduced the notion of a genre repertoire, that is, the set of genres in use within a community. They noted that different communities use different genres in their communication, and use common genres with different frequencies. These differences provide one source of insight into the communicative (and other) practices of the community. For example, a community of social scientists and computer scientists can be distinguished by the frequency of use of different paper genres, as well as the paucity of computer programs and program documentation created in the former, reflecting different modes of research.

Genres are useful because they make communications more easily recognizable and understandable by recipients. Because we drew on the social science paper genre, for example, another social scientist can more quickly determine the purpose and content of our communication and begin to evaluate its contribution. On the other hand, a genre may be unfamiliar or hard to understand for someone outside of this community. In fact, recognition of a particular genre is one sign of membership in a particular community.

## 2.1 Genre change

Drawing on Gidden's structuration theory, Orlikowski and Yates (1994, p. 545) argued that, "People produce, reproduce and change genres through a process of structuring". As members of the community draw on their knowledge of a set of genres to communicate, they reinforce the use of these genres, making them more appropriate or legitimate for use in the given situation (Sewell, 1992). For example, by creating an order entry Web page that draws on the genre of an order form, the designer reinforces the appropriateness of the order form genre for this type of communication. In other words, the genre repertoire is both a product of and a shaper of the communicative practices of a community.

Orlikowski and Yates (1994, p. 547) suggested that in a new situation individuals will typically draw on their existing genre repertoire, reproducing genres they have experienced as members of other communities. Traditional genres such as the book or academic article have been moved intact to the Web. These reproductions may be immediately accepted or there may be a transition period during which the limits of the genre are renegotiated; for example, the electronically distributed journal article is still in transition. It is being used, but this adapted genre is not yet completely accepted or considered legitimate by the academic community as a whole.

However, people are also free to modify a genre and communicate in a way that invokes only some of the expected aspects of form. If these changes become repeatedly used, they too may become accepted and used together with or instead of existing genres, thus extending or altering the genre repertoire. Of course, the communication may also be rejected by the community, in which case no genre will be established. Acceptance may take many years. As well, modifications of genres that are parts of genre systems may require corresponding changes to the rest of the system. For example, changes in citation habits will be necessary before page numbers can be dropped from the technical paper genre. Such interdependencies between genres will tend to slow the adoption of a new genre.

Because the definition of genre relies on social acceptance, it is impossible to define the exact point at which a new genre emerges from the old one. However, after some period of coexistence, the new combination of form and purpose may become generally recognized and named as a separate genre, as, for example, the FAQ has emerged as a distinct genre on the Usenet (an Alta Vista search returns at least 30,000 Web pages with FAQ in their title). As well, genres may be accepted in different communities at different rates. The emergence of new genres would be one sign of the formation of a new community with new communicative practices.

## 2.2 Why study genres on the Web?

The Web provides a particularly interesting setting in which to study the use and development of genres and genre repertoires. First, the capabilities of the new media seem likely to result in the development of new genres of communication. Furthermore, the rapid development of this media suggests an equally rapid adaptation and creation of genres. Bearman (1994, pp. 160-161), for example, notes the rapid evolution in what he refers to as "forms of material" in electronic media in general.

Second, because the majority of Web sites are public, many examples of Web communication are easily available. Furthermore, because there is no central management of the Internet or the Web, there is no explicit management or enforcement of genres of communication, as might happen in the introduction of a communication system in a corporate environment (Orlikowski, et al., 1995). Instead, individual Web site developers individually choose how to present their information, drawing on their understanding as members of a community, what Orlikowski et al. called implicit structuring.

Finally, there are many communities meeting on the Web, bringing experiences with different genres and using the Web for many different purposes. The Web is sometimes used for direct communication where someone with a Web server "delivers" a document to a members of a known community by giving them a URL. For example, some academics use the Web to communicate with other colleagues by publishing their own papers, and with students by publishing syllabi and assignments. Another example of communication within a predictable community is computer companies announcing new products, publishing catalogs, and providing troubleshooting tips online. Since a computer is necessary for Web access, computer companies have been early and heavily into Web site development in expectation of directly reaching their customers.

However, in many other cases the audience is unpredictable. Unlike the Usenet or electronic mail groups, there are no clear separations between these communities into different channels of communication. Therefore, the resulting genre repertoire will likely be the result of interactions among them. This mixing may also lead to genre confusion, meaning that there is a practical need to understand the way genres enable communication. For example, organizations have used the Web to publish information such as product brochures, annual reports, country, state, and city home pages, government agency press releases, etc. These organizations tend to use existing genres when putting information on the Web. A person happening to reach a document on one of their Web sites has a good chance of not being part of the existing community in which that genre evolved. As a result its content may be confusing and the purpose lost.

# 3. Method

To document the range of genres currently in use on the Web, we sampled and classified 100 randomly selected English-language Web pages. We chose the individual Web page as the unit of analysis because we felt that sampling Web sites (e.g., by picking a randomly from Yahoo's list of sources) would have resulted in mostly "cover pages" for Web content. Instead, we sampled pages without regard to where they appeared in a site. As a result, our sample included parts of documents as well as a few whole documents and home pages, allowing us to see adaptations of existing genres in different parts of an electronic document. However, this procedure means that we are more likely to choose pages from the interior of a site, since there are many interior pages and typically only one top page, and from sites with many pages.

## 3.1 Sample

The 100 pages were located by clicking on the "Anything Goes" link under the "Surprises"; category of the Alta Vista search engine put up by Digital Equipment Corporation. The "Anything Goes" link selects pages by generating a random number n, selecting the nth word in the inverted file (i.e., a listing of all the words in all the documents, Rowley, 1992, p. 82-89) and then recalling the document corresponding to that word (Monier, 1996, personal communication). Because this approach samples in proportion to the number of words in the document, long documents are over-represented in our sample.

Language was restricted to English so that the authors would be able to determine the purpose of Web pages that did not follow traditional forms. One-hundred and twenty-five hits were required to obtain 100 useable Web pages. The 25 unusable pages included 12 non-English, 7 "Error 404: URL not found", 2 "Error 403: client not authorized to get this URL", 2 unidentifiable binary or other files, 1 Usenet newsgroup archive and 1 listserv archive. The pages were examined between January 15 and 28, 1996; some links may already be obsolete.

## 3.2 Coding

In their study of genres of electronic mail, Orlikowski and Yates (1994) coded the purpose of each message as well as specific features such as the presence of embedded messages, subheadings or lists. They then defined genres in terms of combinations of these features. Their study needed such precision because their messages were mostly quite similar, the differences between genres were not blatant and because they wanted to reliably classify hundreds of messages. In our case, however, we had only a few examples of many different genres, and the differences between most genre were pronounced, obviating the need for such precision.

Therefore, genres were identified based on the authors' experience with the Web and with other forms of communication. The determination of the genre of each Web page was done by each author separately. The authors then discussed the classification of each page and either agreed on a genre or that the page was unclassifiable.

# 4. Data

The titles of the 100 Web pages and links are shown in Table 1. The pages had diverse origins, as shown in Table 2. Twelve countries were represented in the sample, despite our restriction to English language pages. About equal numbers were from educational and commercial sites, while a smaller number were from government sites.

To determine the effect of the sampling bias, we calculated the number of words in the text of each page using the UNIX wc command. Pages ranged from 9 to 111,586 words, with an average of 5900 words and a median of 2000 (as might be expected, the distribution was quite skewed). The average size of a Web page is said to be about 5000 bytes (Monier, 1996, personal communications) or about 700 words, so our pages are clearly much longer than average.

About half (53) of the pages had hyper-text links in the body of the document, 24 had links on the page, but outside the body for navigation or email, while 23 had no linking at all. Links are one of the defining characteristics of the Web, so we were somewhat surprised by the low use. However, this lack may be due to the bias towards longer documents, since longer documents would presumably be more effort to link and also more likely to be self-contained and therefore require fewer links.

The genres we assigned are also given in Table 1. We found a surprisingly wide range of genres. Table 3 lists the genres we found along with a short definition of each one, drawn in many cases from the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Table 4 shows the number of pages which used familiar genres, new genres, a mix of new and familiar genres and which we could not classify. In most cases, we agreed on the genre represented, but for 7 we encountered some difficulties, which are discussed below.

# 5. Discussion

In our survey we found examples of the reproduction and adaptation of genre. As well, we found components of genre systems. In this section, we will briefly discuss these findings.

## 5.1 Genres on the Web

Most of the pages (82) we studied more or less faithfully reproduced genres or combinations of genres familiar in traditional media, such as the book (#4), FAQ (#98), meeting minutes (#43), box scores (#31) and script (#48). In some cases, we recognized the purpose and form of the page, although we were at a loss for a convenient term. For example, one page described an organization (#19), while several described residential communities or cities (#15, #68), in stereotyped ways. These pages may represent genres that are common in a community of which we are not members (e.g., public relations, real estate). Other pages represented types of communication that are stereotyped, but not usually named, such as someone displaying and describing photographs of family members (#29).

A few pages (11) appeared to be novel genres, yet ones that were already well accepted by the general Web community. These included the hotlist, home page and Web server statistics. Yates and Orlikowski (1992) suggested that these new genres are most likely derived from earlier genres that might have been appropriate to the situation.

We defined a hotlist as a series of links to material not controlled by the page developer (as opposed to a table of contents), often on a related set of topics. In our sample, we found hotlists on topics such as multimedia (#35), music (#41) and anime (#90). Such lists are the online equivalent of a jotted list of discoveries or the hotlist maintained by some browsers. These lists were especially useful before the development of good resource discovery tools, such as Yahoo, Alta Vista or Lycos. They appear now to be developed as a way to express an interest or to add value to a Web site (such as a commercial site) as much as for personal navigation. Hotlists may also have drawn on the forms of posted lists of useful FTP sites or bulletin boards.

An especially easily identified and commonly accepted genre is the home page, a presentation of personal information, often with links to other information or a hotlist. In our sample, we found several (e.g., #80, #75), containing personal or professional information. Interestingly, one of these (#71) stated that it had been developed to meet the expectation of IRC users that everyone have one as a form of introduction.

The antecedents of the home page genre are unclear. One hypothesis passed on by JoAnne Yates (Yates, 1996, personal communication) is that they are adaptations of the .plan files maintained on some UNIX machines. There are also organizationally created home pages, which seem to be adaptations of entries from a faculty profiles book. As well, many organizations maintain home pages as overviews to the organization, their site or some collection of information. For example, one of our pages (#81) presented information about the Greater Eau Claire Area.

Finally, 4 of the pages we encountered reported Web server statistics (#17, #27, #69, #86). These we felt were an example of the potentials for genre confusion. The statistics are of interest primarily to the managers and sponsors of the Web site; however, it turns out to be technically easy to provide them via the Web, which makes them available to everyone, even though most are unlikely to find them useful or even understandable.

The most interesting genres we found showed signs of adaptation, taking advantage of the capabilities of the media. For example, we found two pieces of genealogies (#59, #65), which used linking to display and navigate the usually unwieldy amount of data in a family tree. Two pages (#34 and #62) were both examples of what we called a letter column, for want of a better label, where readers could write in to request help or information from other readers. However the first page (#62) was simply a transfer of this concept to the Web, where readers wrote or e-mailed to an editor, who then included the letters in a regular column. The second (#34) was an automated version, where readers could use their Web browsers to read and post questions and replies, thus speeding the process by making use of the increased interactivity of the media. Similarly, one newsletter (#100) included a survey implemented as a Web form which could be filled out online, again speeding up the flow of information.

## 5.2 Embedded genres

We encountered several examples of genres embedded in other genres. For example, one page (#16) was at one level an entry in an archive, but which included a letter, within which were stories for a folklore collection. Each wrapping (e.g., an archive entry around a letter around a set of stories) created a new genre without completely losing the characteristics of the previous instantiation. This phenomenon is not new, as Orlikowski and Yates (1994) point out, but we believe that it is much more relevant to the Web because of the ease of reusing text in electronic form. For example, wrapping seemed particularly common with an e-mail digest. The surface genre is a simple listing of email messages, but when these are selected on a particular topic, e.g., discussions or reviews of a type of product (#88, #24) they create a review or FAQ. (In some cases, this selection might even be done automatically.)

Through the use of linking, a single document can serve multiple purposes, typically something plus an index. For example, page #76 is in one way a filmography, listing all the films of Laurel and Hardy; however, it also has links to catalog descriptions for the films that can be ordered from the company. Similarly, one page was a list of ratings for zines (#46), but also included links to longer reviews and to the zines themselves.

## 5.3 Parts of documents

Finally, we found numerous pages that were parts of longer documents, e.g., part of an index or a chapter in longer document (#83, #9, #56). In many cases these pages were still recognizable as a distinctive genre, although the purpose was sometimes hard to determine.

We believe that it is useful to establish the genre of even a single Web page. In a physical document, pagination is determined by the physical dimensions of the book and so is not usually meaningful. However, there is no particular limit to the length of a page on the Web, so division into pages should reflect the actual structure of communication. Furthermore, with the growing use of indexing systems such as Lycos or Alta Vista, it is not uncommon for a user to start reading in the middle of a document as we did, again suggesting that the purpose and form of even a single page should be evident. However, we noted that some sites lacked navigational aids to help a reader figure out where they were in a longer document or the purposes of that communication.

## 5.4 Unclassified pages

As mentioned earlier, we had difficulty assigning genres to a number of the pages, most often when we agreed there was a genre, but simply did not know the name. In 3 other cases (e.g., #32, #72), we could not determine the purpose of the communication, making the assignment of a genre problematic. However, we believe that some of these cases may be examples of genres in the process of adaptation to the Web. At this early stage, they are usually seen as variants of an accepted genre, missing some features and possibly adding others. For example, the selected collections of e-mail (#24, #89) were not considered proper e-mail archives because they were incomplete and not sorted by time or author, but they were not quite FAQs either, because they were not edited into a coherent document. If their use continues, then they may eventually become independent genres. Others, such as the single entry from a table of contents (#2), may represent dead-ends, experiments that do not become common accepted usage.

# 6. Conclusions

We believe that genres provided a useful tool for analysis uses of the Web. In general, the concept of genre seemed to be easily applied to the Web pages we studied, with some caveats. In particular, genres distinguished by difference in physical form (e.g., a brochure vs. a booklet vs. a flyer) turned out not to be very useful. Instead, we had to focus more on the purpose of the information, e.g., product description, services, etc. We believe it would be useful to characterize more precisely the common purposes for which information is distributed and how these are reflected in different genres.

We found numerous examples of genres being reproduced on or adapted to the new media as well as a few examples of new genres, specifically the hotlist and home page. There are already some puzzles, like the origins and antecedents of the home page. Therefore, we want to study the Web over a longer period to better document the processes by which genres are being adapted and new genres emerging.

We believe that the size of the genre repertoire is a reflection of the many different communities on the Web and their varied uses of the medium. While our sample included a surprisingly large variety of genres, the limitations of the sampling technique makes it impossible to draw any firm conclusions on the relative frequency of the use of different genres. (For example, our sample included 4 sets of Web server statistics, but we believe this result indicates the length rather than the frequency of this genre.) Therefore, we plan to conduct a similar study with a more random sample.

Some of our pages seemed to be parts of genre systems. As people start to build more interactive Web applications, e.g., to support internal and external processes rather than simply broadcasting information, defining genre systems will be more important. As a result, we think it might be useful to consider the form of a Web site as the pattern of links it exhibits. For example, a hotlist is a linear list of links all of which go to other sites; an online book is a sequential list of chapters, each linked to the next; and a hyper-document is a dense patterns of inter-linked pages. Similarly, a glossary could be identified by the links from throughout a set of documents to regular points on a separate set of pages.

Perhaps our biggest surprise was just how mundane our sample was. Our 100 pages did not include anything particularly radical, such as a remote controlled robot (an example of a user interface genre) or video camera (perhaps a TV monitor genre). The absence of such pages may be due to the bias in our sample, which over selected long documents, which were mostly text, combined with the general rarity of such applications. We believe that it would be useful to conduct a follow-up study using a theoretical sample of "interesting" pages.

Finally, we believe that our research has some implications for the practice of Web site design. First, designers may want to draw on accepted genre where they are appropriate for their purpose. One HTML design book takes this approach, offering samples of home pages for individuals and large and small organizations, brochures, surveys and hotlists (Arronson, 1994), but most do not, focusing only on the mechanics of formatting a page. As well, designers should be aware of users' expectations of a genre. For example, we are used to tables of contents and indices listing the entire contents of a book. It can be very disconcerting, therefore, to encounter site home pages that appears to be tables of contents, or a searches that appears to be indices, but which are incomplete or are actually hotlists.

On the other hand, designers should also feel free to modify or reject genres when it is necessary to take advantage of the technology for a new application. In doing so, however, they must be aware that new genres may be hard to get accepted. Therefore, more attention is needed to clearly define the community in which the communication makes sense. In general, we believe that more explicit attention to genres may speed the wider acceptance of newly emerging genres of communication unique to the Web.

# Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Louis Monier of Digital Equipment Corporation's Western Research Laboratory in Palo Alto, CA for his assistance in understanding Alta Vista and JoAnne Yates for her advice on this paper.

# References

Arronson, L. (1994). HTML Manual of Style. Emeryville, CA: ZD Press.

Bazerman, C. (1995). Systems of genres and the enactment of social intentions. In A. Freedman and P. Medway (Eds.), Genre and the New Rhetoric. London: Taylor and Francis.

Bearman, D. (1994). Electronic Evidence: Strategies for Managing Records in Contemporary Organizations. Pittsburgh: Archives and Museum Informatics.

Berners-Lee, T., Cailliau, R., Luotonen, A., Nielsen, H. F. and Secret, A. (1994). The World-Wide Web. Communications of the ACM, 37(8), 76-82.

Bitzer, L. F. (1968). The rhetorical situation. Philosophy and Rhetoric, 1, 1-14.

Campbell, K. K. and Jamieson, K. H. (Eds.). (1978). Form and Genre: Shaping rhetorical action. Fall Church, VA: Speech Communication Association.

Dollar, C. (1994). Electronic objects circa 2001: Problems or opportunities?... Yes. In Conference on Electronic Records in the New Millennium (pp. 25-38). Vancouver, BC.

Harrell, J. and Linkugel, W. A. (1978). On rhetorical genre: An organizing perspective. Philosophy and Rhetoric, 11, 262-281.

Miller, C. R. (1984). Genre as social action. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 70, 151-167.

Orlikowski, W. J. and Yates, J. (1994). Genre repertoire: The structuring of communicative practices in organizations. Administrative Sciences Quarterly, 33, 541-574.

Orlikowski, W. J., Yates, J., Okamua, K. and Fujimoto, M. (1995). Shaping electronic communication: The metastructuring of technology in the context of use. Organization Science, 6(4), 423-444.

Rowley, J. (1992). Organizing Knowlege (2nd ed.). Brookfield, VT: Ashgate.

Sewell, W. H., Jr. (1992). A theory of structure: Duality, agency and transformation. American Journal of Sociology, 98(1), 1-29.

Yates, J. and Orlikowski, W. J. (1992). Genres of organizational communication: A structurational approach to studying communications and media. Academy of Management Review, 17(2), 299-326.

# Tables

Table 1. Titles, links and genres of selected Web pages. Note: these links were collected in the spring of 1996 and many of them are likely no longer available online. An archived version of the pages is available from the authors.

1 ITC Document
  FAQ, documentation
2 Frozen Mammoths
  TOC entry?? Points to a chapter in a book, but is not the chapter itself
3 Pesticide Broadcast
  Newsletter
4 http://altair.stmarys-ca.edu/studwork/integral/metaphyi.txt
  Book, Aristotle's Metaphysics
5 Big-Linux Archive by author
  Directory of email messages, for someone looking to see what someone had posted
6 RockWeb at The NY Music Fest
  Concert reviews
7 http://www.icsi.berkeley.edu/Sather/Compiler/Back/code_file.sa
  Source code
8 Economic Report to the Governor
  Economic Report to the Governor of Tennessee
9 Boulder Creek Demographics
  Census data
10 Review-ScanPlus ADF for Documents
  Product review

11 Documentation.ylyx (Untitled)
  Computer documentation, in Tex
12 http://gophisb.biochem.vt.edu/usdasrc/finalrul.aph
  Regulation, federal rule
13 Mechanical Engineering
  Course catalog, course descriptions
14 Concept Page
  Index, concept index
15 Century 21- Mike Bowman Trophy Club, TX Information
  Brochure for a housing estate
16 [Western stories tall and not so tall]
  Transcript of a letter in an archive, with catalog entry
17 World-Wide Web Access Statistics for soi.stanford.edu
  Server statistics
18 OMNIWeb Feedback
  Informal reviews, back cover quotes, testimonials
19 OETA Page
  Description of an association, in the form of a press release?
20 http://uakari.primate.wisc.edu/pin/newsletters/clara
  Newsletter

21 HBOOK -- H2Input-Output-Routines
  Programmers' documentation for a computer system
22 Aus Music Web Site - Crowded House Discography
  Discography for some band
23 Annual Report 94-95
  Annual report of the IT Exchange Center at SUNY
24 Everything You Want to Know About Laterite!
  Archive of email discussing aquarium supply, laterite
25 Unisys Corporation
  Brochure about UNISYS GIS systems
26 Sanjay Sampath
  Vitae
27 CERF n' WEB Statistics
  Server statistics
28 EMPLOYEE SHARE OWNERSHIP PROGRAM
  Brochure; government program description
29 Maribel
  "Wallet photo"? Pictur some guy's wife and kids
30 Book Ordering Information
  Order form for a particular book

31 [70] Last Game Statistics
  Football game statistics, box score
32 Using the Internet in Academia
  Introduction to the Internet, not tutorial; promotional almost (tone)
33 http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~refguide/sysadmin/sunos-localization.txt
  Computer system documentation, how to set up a Sun at Caltech
34 Query: Is the Kozintsev Hamlet available on video? Where and how?
  One question from a Q&A letters column--help needed. More adapted (automatic) version.
35 Multimedia - Index
  Hot list, site index; metapurpose: advertising
36 http://www.uspto.gov/web/patinfo/assignments.html~
  Part of a description of a patent
37 Mail Index
  Index of emails on some topic
38 Leadership in Health Care
  Promotional description of a medical school and hospital
39 http://www.linux.sfasu.edu/linux/CDROM-HOWTO
  Computer documentation
40 http://www.socsci.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/joplin/money.txt
  Essay, historical document

41 Cosmik Debris' Music Related Links
  Hot list of music links
42 Globalism and Tribalism
  Description of a program for high school students
43 4-20-95.MIN
  Faculty meeting minutes
44 Boats For Sale
  Magazine article on ham radio on boats in mexico
45 Guide to City Services
  Brochure? Handbook? Guide? Directory?
46 Point Communications Corp. [zines]
  Zine ratings, also index to reviews
47 http://www.mak.com/demos/dial-a-tank/userComponent.html
  Software documentation, tutorial, source code
48 MSCL - Episode 2
  Script for a TV show
49 Don't ask George Will to the singalong
  Column, radio comment, editorial
50 NIAAA Alcohol Alert No. 16 - IN Prevention Resource Center
  Newsletter? Occasional letter? It is quarterly, but not periodical, it is a series.

51 si_on_foster (Untitled)
  Pamphlet: A "reprinted" article from Strategic investments. From a hotlist about the "Vince Foster Coverup".
52 termcap -- Inheriting
  Section of computer documentation
53 ASTRO-1 Status Report
  Mission report, describes what happened on a shuttle flight; chronicle
54 MAIN INDEX: [D]
  Part of the index to a catalog of a library special collection or archive
55 PEOPLE ONLINE - June 1995
  Story about a trip? Personal recollection for a magazine? Magazine column?
56 ATP: Chapter 1
  Chapter from a report on treating high blood cholesterol
57 Faculty of Management, Business & Information Technology
  p; Part of a brochure about a university faculty
58 http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/Our.Daily.Bread/00contents.title.odb.txt
  Index of comments on bible verses organized by title contents? Index to radio commentary on bible verses.
59 I987: P J MCMAHON
  Part of a geneology for mcmahons, as part of an Irish genealogy resource
60 Problems
  Problem set for a computer science class

61 Alinco DJ-580 Manual
  Users manual for a ham radio
62 Member Hotline
  Requests from science teachers for assistance on projects
63 Artwork Submission to KLI
  Instructions to authors, guidelines for submitting art to a journal
64 http://www.wits.ac.za/wits/alumni/news9b.html
  Newsletter (2nd half), from South Africa
65 (Kathryn Mary PARKS - Martha Ellen PARKS )
  Part of an index of person in a genealogy database
66 Exhibits
  Description of exhibits at the 1995 San Diego Comic Con; brochure?
67 Jeff Cooper's Commentaries Vol. 1, No. 9
  Random collections of news items, opinion, gossip column.
68 National City
  Brief description of a community, with links to news articles, schools, census data, etc.; Like for a real estate agent
69 World-Wide Web Access Statistics for CERES server
  World wide web server statistics
70 Peace and Disarmament Policy
  Political party policy/platform

71 Paulo's homepage
  Personal homepage: biography and introduction
72 Commercialization of the Internet
  Exerpt from a brochure, introduction to the Internet; product info
73 First Impressions: Installment Five
  Book review newsletter
74 Hot Travel Tips
  Flier, travel packages
75 SMU Department of Anthropology, DAVID J. WILSON
  Homepage/faculty profile/research summary
76 "The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy"
  ; Filmography and catalog
77 Hammel Museum, Socorro, New Mexico
  Museum guide/brochure
78 HOAA: 50 Startup Ideas
  50 ideas for startup companies at home, with links to other sites for self promotion: booklet? Book? Article? Brochure?
79 FACULTY OF CHEMISTRY
  List of research projects being undertaken in an academic department in Poland also equipment list.
80 MY INDIA
  Hotlist; Home page; collection of links to information about India

81 The Greater Eau Claire Area
  Homepage?; Information about Eau Claire, brochure? Chamber of commerce information?
82 State Wide Search 3, Part Time Jobs
  Job listings
83 Alpha Listing for Letter L
  Part of a telephone book
84 aan9501 [Alternative Agriculture News]
  Newsletter
85 Introduction KOMPLOT 8.0
  Computer program manual intro section.
86 World-Wide Web Access Statistics for www.texas.gov
  World wide web server statistics
87 Acquisitions List Mar. 1995 No. 575
  Library recent acquistions list
88 QRP Reviews - Antennas
  Product reviews; email collection
89 http://sf.www.lysator.liu.se/sf_archive/sf-texts/Quanta.ASCII/Quanta.v3i2
  Fanzine; magazine of SF stories
90 Anime Addicts Anonymous Links
  Hotlist

91 Buppa's Humor Page
  Table of contents to a collection of jokes and funny stories
92 Cheap no more: China.(economic situation in the special economic zone of Shenzhen city in Guangdong province)
  Magazine article (from the Economist)
93 Netscape Handbook: Learn Netscape
  Computer documentation
94 http://www.sph.umich.edu/group/biostat/publications.html
  List of publications by author
95 Hamptons Book Store - Directory
  White pages of homepages, P section
96 The Official Kate Wolf Page - Kate Wolf Article
  Obituary, memorial article/ biography.
97 An African Trade Policy
  Newspaper article
98 http://ntas-edu.cudenver.edu/pyrotechnics/Text-files/Mac-Programming/csmp-faq-2
  FAQ
99 Section X: Hazing
  Policy, section of a policy document
100 The Sun Also Rises on the Net
  Newsletter, resource guide, survey

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Table 2. Top-level domains of sample sites.

    Domain                #
    .edu                 34
    .com                 32
    .gov                  6
    .org                  5
    .net                  3
    .us (USA)             3

    .ca (Canada)          3
    .nl (Netherlands)     3
    .au (Australia)       2
    .se (Sweden)          2
    .de (Germany)         1
    .in (India)           1
    .ie (Ireland)         1
    .pl (Poland)          1
    .za (South Africa)    1
    .ch (Switzerland)     1
    .uk (United Kingdom)  1

[Back to the paper]

Table 3. Characteristics of identified genres.

Genre
  Characteristics of form and purpose
Book
  Long work (one or more volumes) on any topic, often divided into chapters, with a table of contents and index
Report
  A formal statements of the results of an investigation or of any matter on which definite information is required, made by some person or body instructed or required to do so (OED)
Newsletter
  Medium length work, including multiple articles, titled, issued periodically (e.g., with date or volume), communicates "the news of the day", distributed periodically to subscribers or members of an organization
Essay
  A composition of moderate length on any particular subject (OED)
Pamphlet
  A small treatise occupying fewer pages or sheets than would make a book, issued as a separate work unbound, on some subject or question of current or temporary interest, personal, social, political, ecclesiastical, or controversial, on which the writer desires to appeal to the public (OED)
Article
  A literary composition forming materially part of a journal, magazine, encyclopædia, or other collection, but treating a specific topic distinctly and independently (OED)
News wire article
  An article prepared for a news wire, with a dateline and news content
Column
  A special feature, esp. one of a regular series of articles or reports (OED)
Memorial
  An article by which the memory of a person, thing, or event is preserved
Concert review
  Retrospective description of a concert
Product reviews
  Description and evaluation of products to advise potential purchasers
Ratings
  Numeric evaluations of products or services
Submission instructions
  Instructions for preparation of material to be submitted for consideration for publication
Table of contents
  A summary of the matters contained in a book, in the order in which they occur, usually placed at the beginning of the book (OED)
Index
  An alphabetical list, placed (usually) at the end of a book, of the names, subjects, etc. occurring in it, with indication of the places in which they occur (OED)
Discography
  A catalogue raisonné of gramophone records; a list of the recordings of a single composer or performer (OED)
Filmography
  A list of the films of a particular director, producer, actor, etc., or of those dealing with any particular theme (OED)
Regulation or rule
  A rule prescribed for the management of some matter, or for the regulating of conduct; a governing precept or direction; a standing rule (OED)
Product information
  A description of the features and/or benefits of a product, written by manufacturer for potential purchasers
Government program
  A description of the features of government description program, written by agency for potential beneficiaries
Testimonial
  A letter of recommendation of a person or thing (OED)
University course
  A list of numbers, titles and description of course listing offered in some department or departments, possibly including information such as prerequisites, instructor, meeting time and place
Problem set
  A collection of problems assigned for a course
Faculty information
  Short descriptions of individual faculty members
Vitae
  A brief account of one's career (OED)
Publications list
  A list of publications by members of some group
List of research
  A list of research projects underway in some group projects
Directory
  A book containing one or more alphabetical lists of the inhabitants of any locality, with their addresses and occupations; also a similar compilation dealing with the members of a particular profession, trade, or association (OED)
Library acquisitions
  List of books acquired during a particular time list period
Order form
  A form for recording information needed to order some product
Meeting minutes
  The record of the proceedings at a meeting of an assembly, corporate body, society, company, committee, or the like (OED)
Box score
  A record of players and plays in a game
Chronicle
  A detailed and continuous register of events in order of time; a historical record, esp. one in which the facts are narrated without philosophic treatment, or any attempt at literary style (OED)
Script
  The typescript of a cinema or television film; the text of a broadcast announcement, talk, play, or other material (OED)
Political party platform
  A public declaration of the principles and policy on which a political party proposes to stand (OED)
Genealogy
  An account of one's descent from an ancestor or ancestors, by enumeration of the intermediate persons; a pedigree (OED)
Demographic data
  Data on the characteristics or composition of a population
Guide
  A book of information on places or objects of interest in a locality, city, building, etc. (OED)
Archive item
  Description of item stored in a collection of historical documents
FAQ
  Edited collection of questions and answers on some topic; often labelled as such
Users' manual
  Instructions on the use of a product
Computer
  Instructions on the use of a computer program or of documentation a computer programming system
Source code
  Source code for a computer program
File directory
  A list of files in a computer directory listing
E-mail directory
  A list of e-mail messages listing
Hot list
  A list of Web sites not controlled by the list's author, often organized by topic
Home page
  A presentation of personal information, often with links to other information or a hotlist
Server statistics
  Records of accesses to a Web server

[Back to the paper]

Table 4. Count of genres found.

    Familiar genres             80
      Named                        73
      Didn't know name              4
      Unnamed                       3

    New, but accepted genres    11
      Hotlists                      4
      Home pages                    3
      Web server statistics         4

    Unknown genres               9
      Unknown purpose               3
      Mixed features                6

[Back to the paper]

Last updated January 29, 1996.