Building and Managing the Meta Data Repository: A Full Lifecycle Guide (Paperback)

by David Marco (Author) "Before deciding to build a meta data repository, you need to fully understand what meta data is and isn't, and what value a meta data..." (more)
Key Phrases: data acquisition developers, repository architect, technical meta data, Dimension Order Processing, Cellular Phone, Legend Meta (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Here is a book which offers you and your company all the guidance you'll need for developing, deploying and managing a data repository in order to gain competitive advantage." (Freelance Informer, 24th November 2000)

Product Description
"This is the first book to tackle the subject of meta data in data warehousing, and the results are spectacular . . . David Marco has written about the subject in a way that is approachable, practical, and immediately useful. Building and Managing the Meta Data Repository: A Full Lifecycle Guide is an excellent resource for any IT professional." -Steve Murchie Group Product Manager, Microsoft Corporation

Meta data repositories can provide your company with tremendous value if they are used properly and if you understand what they can, and can't, do. Written by David Marco, the industry's leading authority on meta data and well-known columnist for DM Review, this book offers all the guidance you'll need for developing, deploying, and managing a meta data repository to gain a competitive advantage. After illustrating the fundamental concepts, Marco shows you how to use meta data to increase your company's revenue and decrease expenses. You'll find a comprehensive look at the major trends affecting the meta data industry, as well as steps on how to build a repository that is flexible enough to adapt to future changes. This vendor-neutral guide alsoincludes complete coverage of meta data sources, standards, and architecture, and it explores the full gamut of practical implementation issues.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (July 17, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471355232
• ISBN-13: 978-0471355236
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #394,660 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great introduction into metadata., March 22, 2001

By	Konstantin Lissianski (Russia) - See all my reviews

If you want to begin learning about metadata, this is a great place to start. It is quite difficult to find books on metadata these days. Metadata is discussed in other books on data warehousing, but nobody tells you in details how to implement a metadata repository. The author gives a good overview of metadata fundamentals, architecture solutions, current industry trends and more. He pays much attention to the issues of project management during repository construction. I liked very much the Tool Evaluation Checklist for repository tools selection. I did not like the fact though, that the author did not pay much attention to business metadata. The seven classes of metadata do not seem to cover all the types of metadata one can meet in real life. In spite of some minor drawbacks the author did a very good job. The book deserves its five stars. Thanks a lot, Mr. Marco!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good practical advice -- makes tangible the mysteries, June 29, 2002

By	Maureen (outside PA United States) - See all my reviews

As a knowledge management worker for a large pharmaceutical, my company is taking a keen interest in meta data.

This book has a lot of real world advice for bringing this very mysterious topic into workable focus, to enable a company to share information assets and facilitate their effective re-use.

When one thinks about it, meta data is the key to Amazon's success. Can you imagine if Amazon's repository of information was nothing more than the content of the books themselves and their titles? We would be nowhere. I marvel that Amazon is able, through meta data, to deliver more knowledge, and to enable that knowledge to foster yet more collaboration and knowledge...in fact to model my tastes and get me to buy books I didn't even know about!!

David Marco discusses a lot of challenges that large information management projects face and the criticality of key roles in a meta data project (such as the information architect) and the need for user requirements. There are really a lot of pitfalls in approaching meta data (the first being to educate the laypersons in your company as to what it is, and its power, to get funding!).

Good book. Good advice, especially pertaining to the political aspects. Navitating through the politics and getting buyin is 90% of the meta data challenge, and am thankful he has experiences to share and advice on this.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, complete book on Metadata, October 12, 2000

By	eganov (WI USA) - See all my reviews

Maybe it's because metadata has been somewhat of a mystery to me but I found this to be an excellent book. The beginning of the book starts out with the fundamentals and takes you through detailed architecture and implementation. Even the project plan and tool evaluation checklist are valuable. Especially appreciated is the way the book relates the various tools, technologies, procedures and standards together. The author also makes effective use of practical examples and his experience. You get the feeling that the book was written by one person, who knows what they are talking about, instead of the many contributors that so often collaborate on other books. Even though the book was written before the MDC/OMG merger, the author correctly predicts that they will merge and a single meta model will emerge. The book is also up to date enough to explain the relevance of XML to metadata.