This book is surprising in several ways.

First, it came out after Edward Snowden’s revelations of National Security Agency (NSA) snooping, while the national debate over metadata was still in full swing. That synchronicity led me to expect a discussion of privacy versus security, an analysis of the important and meaningful ideas on both sides of the argument. Nope. The use of metadata by law enforcement is mentioned, but only in passing. I was disappointed by its absence. Curiously, the online bookstore summaries overemphasize the small amount of privacy material that does appear, and overlook the bulk and main purpose of the text.

A second surprise, somewhat absurdly, is the author’s use of colons. This may seem like a weird nit to pick, but there were more colons in the first chapter than I’ve encountered in at least my last ten years of reading. It was like bumping into a smiley face repeatedly, or listening to a lecture given through a crappy microphone. The content is not affected, but the user experience sure is. By the last half of the book I had mostly acclimated, but it was still an unnecessary and jarring stylistic idiosyncrasy.

With those two twists out of the way, what is left is a clear and efficient guide to the history, use, and management of metadata from the standpoint of library and information science. Your average programmer won’t really care about this material, but an information scientist should find it a valued guide and handbook. After accepting the lack of political debate, I enjoyed my journey through the metadata landscape, which felt much like obtaining a compressed and vicarious information systems (IS) degree.

The book is small (5x7-ish), short, and concise. It’s actually an excellent book, just with awkward timing, and possibly marketing that misses its niche.