Despite the media hyperbole, as Borgman points out in this examination of data and scholarly research, having the right data is usually better than having more data
little data can be just as valuable as big data. In many cases, there are no data -- because relevant data don't exist, cannot be found, or are not available. Moreover, data sharing is difficult, incentives to do so are minimal, and data practices vary widely across disciplines. She argues that data have no value or meaning in isolation
they exist within a knowledge infrastructure -- an ecology of people, practices, technologies, institutions, material objects, and relationships. Borgman offers case studies of data practices in the sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities, and then considers the implications of her findings for scholarly practice and research policy. -- Edited summary from book.
Includes bibliographical references.