Exploring the Making of CD-ROM at the Publications Office of the European Union

This presentation investigates the production of CD-ROMs at the Publications Office of the European Union as a lens onto early datafication processes within a major European institution. Drawing on interviews with staff members, it traces how heterogeneous publication types, established editorial practices, and coexisting media formats shaped the Office’s encounter with digital technologies. By highlighting moments of media friction—points where analogue and digital procedures collided or had to be reconciled—the case study illuminates how media interacted and coevolved during a transitional period. This perspective complicates linear narratives of digital transformation, revealing the situated, institution-specific dynamics that structured the shift toward data-driven publishing.