Borgman’s Big Data, Little Data, No Data contends that the central problem of networked scholarship is not simply the accumulation of ever larger datasets, but the contested status, meaning and preservation of data across heterogeneous research cultures. Against the celebratory rhetoric of “big data”, Borgman argues that data acquire value only through use, interpretation and context; they are not self-evident objects, but representations of observations, artefacts or phenomena mobilised as evidence within particular scholarly practices. The book therefore distinguishes between big data, little data and no data in order to show that scale alone cannot determine intellectual significance: small, local, carefully curated datasets may be more valuable than vast but poorly documented collections, while “no data” may result from absence, inaccessibility, embargo, proprietary control, technical decay or inadequate curation. Its case-study logic across astronomy, sensor-networked science, social sciences, classical art, archaeology and Buddhist studies demonstrates that data practices depend upon disciplinary norms, instruments, metadata, provenance, ethics, property rights and incentives. Astronomy, for instance, shows how long-term standards and archives make centuries of observations interoperable, whereas humanities materials often resist standardisation because their evidential force depends upon context, interpretation and material specificity. Ultimately, Borgman’s argument is that sustainable scholarship requires robust knowledge infrastructures capable of supporting discovery, attribution, reuse and preservation, while recognising that data are simultaneously assets, liabilities and scholarly acts. The decisive conclusion is that future research policy must move beyond generic mandates for openness and instead address the diversity of data practices, values and responsibilities that shape what can be known, shared and kept.
