The Evolution of Metadata: From Ancient Catalogs to Modern Data Curation
This article explores the concept of metadata across time, highlighting its transformation from the historical "Pinakes" of ancient libraries to contemporary data curation practices. It examines the philosophical implications of metadata in the age of Big Data, the responsibilities that accompany data management, and the evolving role of data curators who blend expertise from social science, statistics, and database management. Key themes include the importance of well-defined schemas, the impact of social media, and the challenge of understanding correlation versus causation in data analysis.
The Evolution of Metadata: From Ancient Catalogs to Modern Data Curation
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Presentation Transcript
Metadata Matters • Ian White • September 5, 2013 @urbanmapping
Achtung! • NoSQL is no panacea • Big Data isn’t about data • Big Data isn’t new • Big Data doesn’t present a Boolean quandary • With power comes responsibility • AWS bills • Lady Gaga tweets • Innumeracy (correlation v causation) @urbanmapping
One Person’s Metadata is Another Person’s Data @urbanmapping
Big v Important • Big • Heterogeneous • Raw • Distributed • Streaming/real time • Search for meaning • Time-sensitive • Philosophical • Important • Well-defined schema • High value (not free) • Test-driven • Relational • Historical • Enterprise-focused @urbanmapping
Social Media Gov2.0 Probes Analytics Data Exhaust @urbanmapping
Platforms • Commoditization of compute and storage @urbanmapping
Callimachus A Brief History of Metadata Library of Alexandria, Egypt @urbanmapping
Callimachus A Brief History of Metadata • “Pinakes” (lists) • Title • Category • Author • Author birthplace • Father • Word count @urbanmapping
Leiden University, 1595 Johan van der Does A Brief History of Metadata @urbanmapping
A Brief History of Metadata Melville Dewey @urbanmapping
A Brief History of Metadata • Card catalog room, Library of Congress c. 1920 @urbanmapping
A Brief History of Metadata • Dewey Decimal System goes electronic in 1967 @urbanmapping
Out with the Old, in with the New • Archiving card catalogs after digitization @urbanmapping
Why Can’t We Be Together? • Metadata • Data @urbanmapping
Taxonomy Pinakes Database Catalog 1595 AD 300 BC 1876 1970 Exponential Growth in Data • Unprecedented rate of data creation, 1995-today Volume of Data Generated @urbanmapping
Oh, How I’ve Missed You! • The reunification of metadata with data @urbanmapping
Together At Last! @urbanmapping
+ = GIS Remains Unevolved Melville Dewey @urbanmapping
Enter the Data Curator • Part social scientist, part librarian, part statistician, part RDBMS wiz @urbanmapping
DIKW Model • Data • Fact, Signal, Symbol • Information • Structural v Functional • Symbolic v Subjective • Knowledge • Processed • Procedural • Propositional @urbanmapping
Popularity Contest Metadata Big Data Data Science Curation @urbanmapping
c.2013 @urbanmapping
One Person’s Metadata is Another’s Data @urbanmapping
