4 Perspectives on Web Information Systems

In recent literature, many authors argue that “Web development” is new and different. The arguments are, however, both debatable and debated, and often it is neither clear what is meant by Web development, nor what it is supposed to be different from. Often-suggested special characteristics of Web development do not seem special after all. I present a model describing four archetypical perspectives on Web Information Systems; the perspectives being characterized by different views on what the system is intended to communicate and on the direction of the communication. I argue that these perspectives (information provider, information system, advertisement, and community) can explain some of the quite opposite opinions on Web development one can find in the literature.