As part of a World Data System special edition of the Data Science Journal at http://dx.doi.org/10.2481/dsj.WDS-042
Thanks again for everyone's help.
Data Matters
Friday, February 15, 2013
Monday, September 17, 2012
Revised metaphor paper submitted
Peter and I have just submitted a revised version of our essay, "Is Data Publication the Right Metaphor", to the Data Science Journal. We hope that it will be out in late October as part of a special issue from the inaugural conference of the World Data System. Meanwhile, we provide a preprint.
The paper is substantially revised, rewritten really, and much longer with many more references. We tried to address (minimally) all the great feedback we got from the community. I think it has much more intellectual rigor as a result. Thank you all!
Our core message remains the same. Metaphors are necessary, restricting, misleading, and enlightening. We need more of them.
The other big message is that we really value the conversation. Please continue to share your thoughts on this blog and, better yet, write challenging papers, do relevant research, and build and operate better socio-technical systems. It's a great time to be a data scientist.
Speaking personally, it was a big challenge and a big privilege to write this essay. I hope it gets "published" :-)
Thanks again. Keep it going...
The paper is substantially revised, rewritten really, and much longer with many more references. We tried to address (minimally) all the great feedback we got from the community. I think it has much more intellectual rigor as a result. Thank you all!
Our core message remains the same. Metaphors are necessary, restricting, misleading, and enlightening. We need more of them.
The other big message is that we really value the conversation. Please continue to share your thoughts on this blog and, better yet, write challenging papers, do relevant research, and build and operate better socio-technical systems. It's a great time to be a data scientist.
Speaking personally, it was a big challenge and a big privilege to write this essay. I hope it gets "published" :-)
Thanks again. Keep it going...
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
“Is data publication the right metaphor?”—An Update
It has been a bit over a month since we submitted our essay to the Data Science Journal and made it
available for open review. We have been overwhelmed by the response. Through
comments on this blog, posts on other blogs, and direct contact, we now have
some 50 pages of review comments from about two-dozen individuals. The reviews
range from a few casual comments to very thorough and detailed critiques. And
we still need to receive the formal reviews from the DSJ editor. If we have
done nothing else, we have succeeded in sparking a conversation.
We are waiting for the formal reviews from DSJ before we
revise the paper, and we anticipate some major revisions. Meanwhile, though, we
can offer a few clarifications, observations, and mea culpas regarding the direction of the conversation
First, we must clarify that this is an essay. It is an essay supported with evidence, but it is an opinion
piece not a research paper (Indeed, it seems many information science papers
could be better classified as well-evidenced essays rather than formal research
results). We believe there is still much research to be done in this area, but
we hope we have helped frame some of that research. We also hope that we have
led some people to re-examine some of their assumptions about current practice.
Despite this being an essay, it is clear we need to be more specific
and precise in our language, and we need to better define our terms. We admit
to being rather cursory in our analysis. We note that the four paradigms we put
forward could be more deeply considered. Also, the paradigms are not all
describing exactly the same thing and are not directly parallel or mutually exclusive.
Paradigm or data management approach may not be the right term. Maybe something
more like a production pattern or communications space. We will tighten up our
language and discussion. We also missed some important work that we will
reference next time. These include papers by Lawrence, de Waard, Baker, and
others in context.
We remain skeptical of the data publication metaphor, but it
is clear that not everyone shares this skepticism. We may have struck a few
nerves. Much seems to revolve around the definition of “publication” (e.g., big
P vs. little p), and therein lies the rub. It is clear that the community has
not converged on a solid definition(s) of data publication. We argue that we
need to broaden our thinking before we start converging too much on any given
approach. We don’t believe we can assume that the current scholarly communication
process is durable or even fully relevant. We believe we need to critically
pick and chose desirable aspects from many frames of thinking. We also feel
that we did not adequately convey how metaphor can limit how people think. We
will beef that section up a bit, but we don’t expect to end the debate. Rather we
hope the debate continues, but we did see some level of consensus.
It is clear that this was an important question to ask, and
that this was a good time to ask it. Further, cognitive science, social
science, and philosophy were recognized as important to consider in data
science practice. Many agreed on the need for more metaphors, even those very
fond of the publication metaphor. Several alternative metaphors were suggested.
Many are intrigued by the ecosystem metaphor, but it remains inchoate, and it
is unclear how it would work to encourage desired behavior by data providers. All agree that we need data to be
preserved, recognized, and more fully considered in the scholarly process. We
are all working in that direction, even if we are not all on the exact same
path.
Clearly, these sorts of discussion are very valuable. We
continue to welcome feedback and will consider everything we receive up until
the time we receive formal reviews and begin revising the paper.
Thanks again for the many, thoughtful comments,
—Mark and Peter
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Seeking open review of provocative data publication essay
Peter Fox and I have submitted an essay to the Data Science Journal entitled "Is data publication the right metaphor?". If accepted, the essay would be part of a special issue resulting from the inaugural conference of the new ICSU World Data System.
In this essay we discuss the importance of metaphor in framing how we think, and we critically examine the data publication and several other metaphors. Our intention is to be somewhat provacative and to spark a conversation in the community about how we conceive of, describe, and evolve the overall data management enterprise.
While the paper is submitted for formal peer-review, the DSJ editors have also allowed us to make the essay available for open community review. The essay is available at http://dl.dropbox.com/u/546900/parsons_fox_metaphor_dsj_open.docx. We encourage everyone to read it and to provide constructive critique in the comments of this blog.
Apologies for cross posting, but we really want to get the word out.
Thank you,
Mark Parsons and Peter Fox
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)