Book review: Information as Product by Michael Daconta
Over the years I've read a few articles here and there by Michael Daconta. He's one of those guys that just plain gets "data" and everything there is to know about "data". I've been subscribing to his blog (Practical Metadata) for sometime now and recently he posted a post named "Reviewers Wanted for my New Book!". Well, I responded to that posting - low and behold- the next day I've got a nice size pdf in my inbox waiting for me to start "reviewing".
I have to admit, the last time I formally reviewed a book would be at Locust Valley High School, when I had to do "book reports" to prove to my English teachers that in fact I could actually read. With that said, I tried not to worry about the "review" part and I spent some quality time just plain reading the book. I'm not much of a fan of reading large documents on the laptop, but I agreed that I wouldn't print out the book so I went about reading the book on the laptop. This was a little annoying, but after I got going it was absolutely no big deal (just gotta get used to new things).
Now onto the actual book (yes, I plan on discussing the book). I really enjoyed the book quite a bit. The formal review I sent Mike after reading is as follows:
As you can tell, I liked the book very much. Michael speaks "data" and being a "data guy" I totally get it. The really cool part is that Michael teaches us about information as a product by speaking "data", "information", "knowledge" and "wisdom" (as well as including a great metadata writeup)....very cool.
Two thumbs up to Michael. I'd recommend that folks up and down the data food chain (from Analysts to C-Level folks) take a good look at this one, especially for those of us in the business of getting the right information to the right folks at the right time. Isn't that what all we're all supposed to be doing anyway?
Until next time...Rich
I have to admit, the last time I formally reviewed a book would be at Locust Valley High School, when I had to do "book reports" to prove to my English teachers that in fact I could actually read. With that said, I tried not to worry about the "review" part and I spent some quality time just plain reading the book. I'm not much of a fan of reading large documents on the laptop, but I agreed that I wouldn't print out the book so I went about reading the book on the laptop. This was a little annoying, but after I got going it was absolutely no big deal (just gotta get used to new things).
Now onto the actual book (yes, I plan on discussing the book). I really enjoyed the book quite a bit. The formal review I sent Mike after reading is as follows:
"There is no doubt that Michael's understanding of data, information and metadata is substantially beyond that of most Information Technology (IT) professionals. In his book Information as Product, Michael uses analogies (such as comparing the production of information to manufacturing consumer products like chicken noodle soup) to help IT professionals think differently about creating data (and simply building reports). After reading Information as Product, IT professionals will understand the importance of information requirements, which include the delivery of the right information to the right people at the right time." |  |
As you can tell, I liked the book very much. Michael speaks "data" and being a "data guy" I totally get it. The really cool part is that Michael teaches us about information as a product by speaking "data", "information", "knowledge" and "wisdom" (as well as including a great metadata writeup)....very cool.
Two thumbs up to Michael. I'd recommend that folks up and down the data food chain (from Analysts to C-Level folks) take a good look at this one, especially for those of us in the business of getting the right information to the right folks at the right time. Isn't that what all we're all supposed to be doing anyway?
Until next time...Rich
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