John Miedema » Uncategorized

There’s No Such Thing as Metadata

John — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:44:01 +0000

You’ve heard the old saying, metadata is data about data, which suggests that metadata is somehow ‘higher’ than other data. What does it mean to be ‘higher’? We usually mean that metadata provides short summary values about some larger body of data. For example, a title, keywords, and an abstract are short text values that describe an article or book. Because these metadata values are short, and quick to read, they are useful for someone searching for information. It’s a good start.

The data and metadata world is more complex. Consider that for a data series, the last observation is a kind of metadata. Economists, for example, consider the most recent data point to fit within the metadata set for an economic indicator. A single data point is not a summary value; it is a data point. Also consider that the full text of web pages is indexed by Google to aid search. In this case, it is not a summary value, but the whole text of the article that serves as metadata for itself. For Google Books, the whole text of books can serve as metadata. It seems that anything can be metadata for anything. In the end it’s arbitrary. There is no final thing we can call metadata.

This Book is on the Top of My Christmas List: Doctorow’s Makers

John — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:32:25 +0000

Makers Canadian launch in Toronto

You can legally download the entire digital book for free, but I just have this thing about reading the good stuff in print.

Community Bookcases: We Need More of These

John — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 02:29:59 +0000

When my kids were small we had a trailer in a trailer park. One of my favourite things was picking my summer time reads off the community bookcase in the main lodge. All books donated, no hurry to return them, if at all. Just saw a related post and great photo at librarian.net. That bookcase is outdoors, so no worries about hours or loitering. I like it.

Do You Have Back-to-the-Land Titles to Recommend?

John — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:10:06 +0000

I recently posted the list of titles in my Back-to-the-Land collection. It’s just a beginning. Here are some premium titles recommended by others, and a few I added. I am not entirely clear on what counts as a “Back-to-the-Land” title yet, but these look like good ones.

I would love to hear more recommendations.

The Collected Poems Of Wendell Berry, 1957-1982; Wendell Berry

The Mad Farmer Liberation Front is a personal favourite. I haven’t read much else of his but I’m sure it belongs here.

Curve Of Time; M. Wylie Blanchet

One of several excellent suggestions by Deborah. The Canadian setting really piques my interest.

Escape To The Mountain: A Family's Adventures In The Wilderness; Marcia Bonta

This title has just gone back into print by an interesting publisher. Read more at the author’s blog and at Via Negativa.

Growth Of The Soil; Knut Hamsun

Thanks Dan. Note: You can read this one online at Open Library. Click the title.

The Good Life: Helen And Scott Nearing's Sixty Years Of Self-sufficient Living; Helen Nearing

Another good title by the Nearings recommended by Dan.

Happy The Land; Louise Dickinson Rich

One of several titles listed here by this author. Thanks Deborah.

At Home In The Woods: Living The Life Of Thoreau Today; Bradford Angier

Loving And Leaving The Good Life; Helen Nearing

A poignant talk by Helen Nearing in which she talks about Scott’s death at the age of one hundred.

My Neck Of The Woods; Louise Dickinson Rich

The Peninsula; Louise Dickinson Rich

We Took To The Woods; Louise Rich

Your Money Or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship With Money And Achieving Financial MORE; Joe Dominguez

A modern take on knowing what is enough. I’ve been meaning to read this one. Thanks Jason.