Digital artefacts
Is a digital artefact the same artefact if it is republished again at a new time or in a different environment? Is it the same artefact if the original author does not press the re-submit button.
Or is a digital artefact the culmination of thing and context.
Is it even possible to re-use the digital, or does to re-use mean new.
An xMOOC may have multiple instances but each instance is a different entity – it is a different MOOC. The content may be largely the same but the people, the time, the current affairs context will be different, thus rendering every instance essentially different.
A digital copy like creatures of the same species – a ladybird looks like many other ladybirds, until you count the spots.
Interesting Amy. I guess you could ask the same question of a web page – is it the ‘same’ page that another person, on another browser, downloading at a different time, would see? What constitutes ‘the original’ in any form of the digital? What constitutes ‘authenticity’? Back to Hand again : )
@Amy this reminds me of the discussions in aesthetics in music regarding the performance of a symphony: how do different orchestras interpret the musical score; when we see it live, versus a recorded performance, Each version will be a slightly different interpretation. The impact of the audience, the time of the day, the location all contribute to the authenticity and experience of each instance.
@Amy. The idea that the digital artifact could differ according to a modified environment or audience is really interesting. If it is relocated in a new context, unsimilar to the original then the interpreted meaning of the artifact must be subject to change.I think that there is validity in Gina’s point above the potential for interpretive differenciation between active [live] and static [pre-recorded].