Despite its title, this book is not primarily about data dictionaries and is not intended for database administrators. It is about data administration, which does entail the use of data dictionaries. According to a series of vignettes presented in chapter 1 under the heading, “Why Me?”, it is intended for three categories of people: (1) prospective data administrators and their managers, who need to know what data administration is; (2) information system end users, who want to know what data administration will do for them; and (3) people who want to sell the data administration concept in their organization and need ammunition to do this. None of these categories includes the database administrator, whose generally accepted function is to provide technical support for a database management system installation.

In the preface, the reader is thoughtfully invited to take a “test” to determine if reading the book would be worthwhile. The test consists of two parts: asking yourself if your corporate data meet acceptable standards for integrity, timeliness, accuracy, and shareability; and, if the answer is no (as it almost certainly will be), calling your “information center” and asking for a list of 200 entity names and definitions, a set of standards for writing such definitions, and a list of the definitions that in fact conform to those standards. If the answer again is unfavorable (as it usually will be), the author feels you should read the book.

The book will generally be useful for prospective data administrators. After defining data administration at a high level (data collection, data control, data policy administration, and data dictionary support), the author goes into successively lower levels of detail: the types of “members” that a dictionary should hold (corporate, departmental, and project); naming conventions for dictionary members involving the use of class, category, and qualifier words; conventions for full names; and the selection of keywords. The information on data dictionary software is very limited, and readers who are interested in this aspect of the subject should look to Brathwaite [1].

For end users and people who are promoting the idea of data administration, the book will be of limited value. It describes data administration, and it describes the characteristics of effective information systems, but it does not convincingly establish a link between the two. It would not take a theoretical argument to do this; one or two examples of how a data dictionary has been used to solve a specific information system problem would have been sufficient.

As the book notes, data administration is basically concerned with metadata, that is, data about data. Having made this distinction, Vinden then becomes very casual about which level of data is being discussed. For example, are we evaluating data or metadata for timeliness, accuracy, and the like? Does the data administrator control data or metadata? This relaxed approach is typical of the book, and readers who like concepts clearly defined and carefully used will be disappointed. The book also suffers from numerous typographical errors, inappropriate headings, and other evidence of inadequate editing.