Abstract
I have to admit, I have struggled with this book. I received it to review before Christmas and after slightly more than two readings now feel reasonably confident to give a balanced view of the volume. I commend any authors that have the generosity to attempt to increase our understanding of a new or emerging area of work; however, this commendation will now be heavily qualified as I found this book, to say the least, disappointing.
Let’s start with the title, which is misleading. The subtitle reflects the content of the work more accurately. This book is not about linked data – the requirements of operating in an environment where the linking of data is more common forms a theme in this book. The major content of the book is about how to ‘do it good’ with metadata. The simplicity of the data structure used in the text examples does not reflect the excellent work done within the library sector with the MARC format – which is only referred to fleetingly, and is cross referenced in the index to Machine Readable Cataloguing! The name authority and subject authority work carried out under the Programme for Cooperative Cataloguing does not get a mention even though space is given to quality control, which the authors struggle with as a concept. Neither AACR2 nor RDA are mentioned, nor the effectiveness of the Library of Congress as a beacon over time for generating consistent practice over a domain of information formats and enhancing quality.
So, having cleared that gripe, what of the text itself – at the level of readability. The authors are not working (I assume) in their first language. This can work well in verbal presentations; however, when it comes to the written word greater precision in language is required. The text is littered with phrases like ‘the fact that’ and elements of ‘not quite’ English usage. At times I had the sense that verbal presentations had simply been put through a text package. This is also evident in the tendency of the text to wander off the current concern to include an aside which detracts from rather than adds to the focus of the text. This produces a general vagueness to the text which I found unhelpful.
I came to this text to get a grounding in one of those new areas of activity of which my understanding was limited (hence my frustration). However, the one area I did understand was cataloguing tools, some of which are dealt with briefly in Chapter 4 ‘Reconciling’. The authors deal with DDC and LCSH very much at arm’s length, seeming only to have read the literature rather than worked with them directly. This probably explains why the two examples given (Tables 4.1 and 4.2) are labelled DDC when they are actually examples from UDC, and the general lack of understanding of these tools.
The authors identify one of the aims of the book as to ‘lower the technical barrier towards understanding linked data’ (p. 5), yet come out with little gems like: ‘Everyone has probably heard at some point about MySQL’ (p. 25) – nope, never heard of it. The text varies between small steps and blocks of coding which are either explained into the ground or too briefly glossed over. This unevenness reads almost as if lecture notes have been included without the necessary rewriting and editing to map adequately into the text.
The text includes a set of examples to support each chapter mainly using OpenRefine, which is freely available software. The exercises appear well constructed and presumably have been extensively workshop tested before being included in this handbook.
I do not feel that the authors alone are at fault for the final product. Facet has singularly failed to support the authors or provide adequate editorial control. My sense is that there is a far smaller, very useful book within this volume seeking to escape: a book which is aimed specifically at the digital humanities market and built round the tutorial examples which form the case studies in the current volume. The attempt to put that text on steroids so it would appeal to a wider audience has led to the current unfortunate text. The authors are clearly engaged in good work with the Free your Metadata project; hopefully the current volume will merely be a bump in their road!