Big Data, Little Data, No Data: Scholarship in the Networked World

by Christine L. Borgman

Overview

An examination of the uses of data within a changing knowledge infrastructure, offering analysis and case studies from the sciences, social sciences, and humanities.

“Big Data” is on the covers of Science, Nature, the Economist, and Wired magazines, on the front pages of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. But despite the media hyperbole, as Christine Borgman points out in this examination of data and scholarly research, having the right data is usually better than having more data; little data can be just as valuable as big data. In many cases, there are no data—because relevant data don't exist, cannot be found, or are not available. Moreover, data sharing is difficult, incentives to do so are minimal, and data practices vary widely across disciplines.

Borgman, an often-cited authority on scholarly communication, argues that data have no value or meaning in isolation; they exist within a knowledge infrastructure—an ecology of people, practices, technologies, institutions, material objects, and relationships. After laying out the premises of her investigation—six “provocations” meant to inspire discussion about the uses of data in scholarship—Borgman offers case studies of data practices in the sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities, and then considers the implications of her findings for scholarly practice and research policy. To manage and exploit data over the long term, Borgman argues, requires massive investment in knowledge infrastructures; at stake is the future of scholarship.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262529914
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	02/03/2017
Series:	The MIT Press
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Christine L. Borgman is Professor and Presidential Chair in Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is the author of From Gutenberg to the Global Information Infrastructure and Scholarship in the Digital Age (both winners of the “Best Information Science Book” award from ASIS&T), published by the MIT Press.

Table of Contents

Detailed Contents ix

Preface xvii

Acknowledgments xxi

Part I Data and Scholarship 1

1 Provocations 3

2 What are Data? 17

3 Data Scholarship 31

4 Data Diversity 55

Part II Case Studies in Data Scholarship 81

5 Data Scholarship in the Sciences 83

6 Data Scholarship in the Social Sciences 125

7 Data Scholarship in the Humanities 161

Part III Data Policy and Practice 203

8 Releasing, Sharing, and Reusing Data 205

9 Credit, Attribution, and Discovery 241

10 What to Keep and Why 271

References 289

Index 361

What People are Saying About This

Gregg Gordon

Data by itself has no value. It's the ever-changing ecosystem surrounding data that gives it meaning. Borgman gets all of this and much more. Big Data, Little Data, No Data is filled with thoughtful discussion, examples, and case studies that provide a foundation for the much-needed conversations and decisions to be made about research data. This book is a primer for anyone trying to understand data relevancy in scholarship today.

Endorsement

Data by itself has no value. It's the ever-changing ecosystem surrounding data that gives it meaning. Borgman gets all of this and much more. Big Data, Little Data, No Data is filled with thoughtful discussion, examples, and case studies that provide a foundation for the much-needed conversations and decisions to be made about research data. This book is a primer for anyone trying to understand data relevancy in scholarship today.

—Gregg Gordon, President and CEO, Social Science Research Network

From the Publisher

Once again, Borgman hits it out of the park. She moves beyond the trendy discussion of 'big data' to focus on the real issue: data, the very concept of which differs among scholarly communities. The challenges to successful data sharing are legion, and she spells them out in detail. Those who follow her insights will save a lot of time and money.

—John Leslie King, W. W. Bishop Professor of Information, University of Michigan

We live amidst a sea of data. In Big Data, Little Data, No Data, Christine Borgman explores the depths and swells of that data and how they connect with scholarship and, more broadly, systems of knowledge. The result is an invaluable guide to harnessing the power of data, while remaining sensitive to its misuses.

—Jonathan Zittrain, Professor of Law and Computer Science, Harvard University; Co-founder, Berkman Center for Internet & Society; Director, Harvard Law School Library

Data by itself has no value. It's the ever-changing ecosystem surrounding data that gives it meaning. Borgman gets all of this and much more. Big Data, Little Data, No Data is filled with thoughtful discussion, examples, and case studies that provide a foundation for the much-needed conversations and decisions to be made about research data. This book is a primer for anyone trying to understand data relevancy in scholarship today.

—Gregg Gordon, President and CEO, Social Science Research Network

Jonathan Zittrain

We live amidst a sea of data. In Big Data, Little Data, No Data, Christine Borgman explores the depths and swells of that data and how they connect with scholarship and, more broadly, systems of knowledge. The result is an invaluable guide to harnessing the power of data, while remaining sensitive to its misuses.

John Leslie King

Once again, Borgman hits it out of the park. She moves beyond the trendy discussion of 'big data' to focus on the real issue: data, the very concept of which differs among scholarly communities. The challenges to successful data sharing are legion, and she spells them out in detail. Those who follow her insights will save a lot of time and money.

Editorial Reviews

This reading might be of enormous value to interdisciplinary scholars, seeking to test or adapt different data methods, but also for students, that need to get introduced to them. Without holding back, I would recommend this book, for its clarity, well-organised arguments and throughout approach as a university handbook in the area. It is more than enough to get known to status, practices and procedures concerning any type of data in different research field areas.—Leonardo—

Big Data, Little Data, No Data is no mere bibliography or literature review, nor is it a how-to-do-it manual on data curation. It is an extended thought-piece, firmly grounded in the author's extensive experience with all-things data, and her knowledge of the work and writings of hundreds of other scholars over time.

—Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology—

From the Publisher

Big Data, Little Data, No Data is no mere bibliography or literature review, nor is it a how-to-do-it manual on data curation. It is an extended thought-piece, firmly grounded in the author's extensive experience with all-things data, and her knowledge of the work and writings of hundreds of other scholars over time.

—Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology

Reviews

Big Data, Little Data, No Data is no mere bibliography or literature review, nor is it a how-to-do-it manual on data curation. It is an extended thought-piece, firmly grounded in the author's extensive experience with all-things data, and her knowledge of the work and writings of hundreds of other scholars over time.

Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology

This reading might be of enormous value to interdisciplinary scholars, seeking to test or adapt different data methods, but also for students, that need to get introduced to them. Without holding back, I would recommend this book, for its clarity, well-organised arguments and throughout approach as a university handbook in the area. It is more than enough to get known to status, practices and procedures concerning any type of data in different research field areas.

Leonardo