Die epistemischen Affordanzen von Papier: Beobachtungen zur Digitalisierung eines Handbuchs

Abstract

This article deals with the question of how the expertise of nuclear safeguards inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) materialises in an artefact, the abolished Safeguards Manual. The paper-based collection of all processes and procedures relevant to safeguards inspectors, stored in two folders, was transferred to a digital database (the Document Manager). Using a semiotic analysis of the different affordances of the manual and the Document Manager, I explain why some inspectors lament the disappearance of the manual and blame it for a supposed loss of knowledge among inspectors. I argue that unease about this media transformation reflects unease about concurrent changes in safeguards knowledge practices.