Shifting information analysis: big data's implications for the information sciences and professions.

• Author: Kosciejew, Marc
• Position: Book review

Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think

Author: Viktor MayerSchonberger and Kenneth Cukier

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Publication Date: 2013

Length: 242 pages

Price: $80

ISBN: 978-0-544-00269-2

Source: www.amazon.com

In Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think, Viktor Mayer-Schonberger and Kenneth Cukier present the emerging trend of big data and its various political, economic, social, and professional implications. This book is intended for a diverse academic and professional audience in various disciplines. It should be of particular interest to scholars and practitioners in the information sciences and professions because of its focus on the information concepts and practices inherent in, and influenced by, big data. The chapters are divided by big data's major components, thereby providing a clear framework in which to approach and understand this emerging trend. A detailed section for notes on each chapter is included, along with a bibliography and index.

Emphasizing information

The book's central argument is that big data is transforming the ways in which we approach, understand, measure, study, and interact with the world (of information) around us. Big data refers to the massive amounts of information generated and collected by agencies, companies, and institutions for diverse purposes and the advancements in computing power and storage that allow for the efficient and effective management and use of this information.

While technology plays an important role, information is the bedrock of the big data era. Big data opens up novel avenues of research and practice that were not possible when only smaller datasets were available, thereby providing opportunities for new kinds and sources of economic activity, value, innovation, and work.

Further, the authors argue that big data permits datafication (not to be confused with digitization) that is, processes and practices that render more aspects of reality into data points, data formats, and data sets to be used to better understand phenomena.

Shifting Information Analysis

Of particular interest to information scholars and professionals is the discussion on the emerging changes in information analysis. The authors argue that big data demands three major shifts in analyzing information, which they call "more," "messy," and "correlations."

The first shift is big data's information surfeit: there is much more data that...