Data management and the digital age

CC photo by: Will Lion

As a new scholar, or rather a returning scholar, I am repeatedly amazed by the changes that have occurred in the last twenty years in the area of information management. Many years ago, I knew nothing of Moodle, Google docs, other learning management platforms, reference manager software packages, wikis, blogs and the proliferation of social networks that allow everyone to share and access never-ending sources of data and so much else.

I was innocently surfing the information highway on the internet with no headlights. Now, I am racing along, with the high beams on, acutely aware of the catching up that I must do and being blinded by all the possibilities and the challenges. It is a daunting task. It can confuse or paralyze. I choose to be motivated and curious. 

Beyond the fact that in this digital age, the half life of information is minute and data is immediately available for scrutiny, further dissemination, challenge, rebuttal or dismissal, the process of vetting through such a vast amount of data, extracting the most relevant, accurate and comprehensive information in order to support, dispute or expand on an idea or a subject is a significant undertaking. Once one taps into a data source, there is still the task of assessing its validity and reliability and the numerous possibilities of interpretation of the data. Where to begin? How to do this? are critical questions. Having a clear framework to achieve this monumental task remains to me most important in achieving this. 

One such framework can likely be found in a robust online information infrastructure. A review of the book by author Borgman (2007) offers some elements of consideration to that effect. I like the thought of modularity and flexibility and easy access that should be built into such an information management tool. I like her suggestion that the researcher's needs and practices are at the heart of this. It is not surprising though. There is truth to the saying: "build it and they will come" (Field of Dreams, 1989). The scholarly community must be reassured that data produced and collected will be handled with care. Issues of copyright, intellectual property are at stake. On the other hand, this new way of managing data will require a change in the mindset of researchers. The evolution of the open access concept is still a matter of debate.


Spiro, L. (2008, December 3). Reviews [Review of the book Scholarship in the Digital Age: Information, Infrastructure, and the Internet, by C.L. Borgman], Literary and Linguistic Computing, 24(2), 243-244. doi: 10.1093/llc/fqn041