How to Build a Supercomputer: U.S. Research Infrastructure and the Documents That Mitigate the Uncertainties of Big Science

Authors

Sarah Read, Portland State UniversityFollow

Published In

Written Communication

Document Type

Post-Print

Publication Date

7-13-2020

Subjects

Research -- United States, Universities and colleges -- United States -- Research, Science and state -- United States, Laboratories -- United States, Technical writing, Communication in science

Abstract

In this article, I argue that technical reporting and documentation processes function to mitigate uncertainty and enable complex systems in the endeavor of big science. The argument draws on two years of field research investigating technical reporting and documentation processes at a federally funded supercomputing center dedicated to scientific research. A central question the study sought to answer was, “How does one build a new supercomputer?” One of the answers that emerged is that supercomputers are built by the genre assemblages of documents that mitigate financial, political, and technological uncertainties, and their attendant risks, that are inherent to technoscientific cutting-edge enterprises. Given their centrality, these genre assemblages function as essential infrastructure for the U.S. national laboratory system and for big science endeavors in general. In conclusion, this article argues that documentation that mitigates uncertainty serves an important infrastructural function for organizational life more generally.

Description

This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Written Communication. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Written Communication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088320939541

Locate the Document

https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088320939541

DOI

10.1177/0741088320939541

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/33376

Citation Details

Published as: Read, S. (2020). How to Build a Supercomputer: US Research Infrastructure and the Documents That Mitigate the Uncertainties of Big Science. Written Communication, 37(4), 536-571.