290  College & Research Libraries March 2019

O’Kelly, offers her reflection on the AiA project at Grand Valley State University, where they 
measured the effectiveness of a collaborative program designed to support students through 
peer-learning services. The reference to Stone Soup, for me, is such a terrific metaphor not only 
for Mary O’Kelly’s project but also for the Assessment in Action (AiA) projects as a whole. 
The sharing and support exhibited in the various libraries mirrors the traditional tale of the 
Stone Soup, where all the villagers contribute to the broth creating a delicious soup. The ten 
reflections in this section are each appetizing additions to the scholarship on assessment in 
academic libraries.

The third section looks forward and offers insights into how academic librarians can share 
the compelling evidence gathered through the AiA program with critical stakeholders as well 
as how “ACRL offers opportunities for growth and advocacy within the profession into the 
future.” The 11 appendices offer not only historical information about the AiA program but 
also a comprehensive bibliography and listing of individual activities with exemplary design 
elements. 

Charting a course for the future of one’s library can be daunting, and the climate of 
data-driven decision-making might seem overwhelming for those without a background in 
assessment. The collection of results of the Assessment in Action program in this book offer 
suggestions and insights at your fingertips. Having this go-to reference will be helpful for 
academic librarians at any points in their careers as they navigate the world of assessment in 
academic libraries.—Kelli Johnson, Marshall University

Andrew Weiss. Big Data Shocks: An Introduction to Big Data for Librarians and Information Pro-
fessionals. Chicago: American Library Association, 2018. 194p. Paper, $45.00 (ISBN: 978-1-

5381-0323-4). 
In Andrew Weiss’ book Big Data Shocks: An Introduction to Big Data for 
Librarians and Information Professionals, the author skillfully explores 
the intersections between libraries and big data by examining how 
this powerful technology is transforming and impacting (shocking) 
the world of libraries and information. The book is timely, given the 
intensity of the ongoing debates focused around campaigns of mis-
information (Facebook and Google are two examples) coupled with 
the erosions of individual privacy that have been enabled by the use 
of big data technologies. Big Data Shocks consists of twelve chapters, 
and the chapters are grouped into four sections: “First Shock,” “Real-
ity Shocks,” “Library Shocks,” and “Future Shocks.” The work is well 
written and thoroughly researched, and the ideas explored in the book 

are fully developed and supported. Highlights of the book include Weiss’ description on the 
rise of big data and his narrative on the challenges surrounding these powerful and mostly 
unregulated technologies, as well as his robust examination of what our roles as librarians in 
this new era of big data can be, especially in light of libraries’ commitment to patron privacy. 
This scholarly publication is a welcome and notable addition to the growing body of works 
that focus on data, information technologies in the twenty-first century, core library values, 
privacy, and information seeking. It is written for all academic librarians, although especially 
those interested in data, big data, open science and data, science, technology and society, pri-
vacy in the twenty-first century, or anyone who is interested in learning more on this topic.



Book Reviews  291

“First Shock” (the first section of the book) provides historical context on data and big 
data and a framework for approaching and exploring what data and big data are. The section 
comprises three chapters. Topics include the transformation of data across centuries (tied to 
technologies and applications), how digital technologies like the internet and other information 
platforms helped transform data into big data, and tools and uses of big data. The section adds 
a new voice—a librarian’s viewpoint on data and big data—to the literature. While the work 
is not overlong, it is comprehensive enough for those new to big data to become adequately 
informed. A standout of the section is the chapter “Approaches and Tools for Analyzing and 
Using Big Data.” It provides the overview of the concept of information and data tracking 
across sectors, which lays a solid foundation for the privacy discussion that is explored later 
in the book. 

In section 2, “Reality Shocks,” the author devotes four chapters to addressing social issues 
that the use and misuse of big data technologies has given rise to. Issues such as the erosion 
of personal privacy due to the massive collection and analysis of individuals’ behavioral, 
social, transactional, and financial information, big data enabled state and corporate surveil-
lance and information overload. Weiss provides a well-written and honest assessment of the 
challenges surrounding the American Library Association’s privacy policy in the age of big 
data. This section alone is worth reading for the discussion about evolving library polices and 
librarians roles as educators in an age where almost everyone uses devices that track them 
and records their personal information and actions. Weiss illustrates how technologies like 
big data have increased the ability of governments and corporations to gather information 
on users and citizens and to create systems for a new type and era of surveillance. The author 
also explores how the scale of systems that support the creation and discovery of online or 
digitized information has created a sense of “information overload,” including the important 
role that libraries and information literacy have to play due to this overload.

The third section, “Library Shocks,” focuses on how big data is directly shocking libraries. 
These three chapters highlight the impacts that big data are having on core library services 
and technologies, with emphasis on collection development and management, data manage-
ment, open science, and the open data initiatives/movement. The section also explores digital 
humanities. The section is well crafted and researched, and the tone of the text is such that 
readers are encouraged to embrace how libraries might adopt and benefit from these powerful 
technologies in the digital age of libraries. Of interest in this section is expanding technologies 
for citation and link analysis. This section emphasizes the important role that libraries have in 
and out of the academy on promoting, teaching, and shaping data literacy and information 
ethics and the need for more current and future librarians to take on the roles of analysts and 
technologists who can model core beliefs (equitable access and the ethical use of information) 
that libraries promote and support.

The final section of the book is titled “Future Shocks.” These two chapters explore a 
couple of ideas about how libraries might benefit and adapt big data technologies through 
“big assessment” and smart libraries. The concept of big assessment—where libraries use 
these powerful technologies to help us develop and provide a better educational and user 
experience for patrons—is certainly worth a discussion, as is the concept of the smart library. 
While this section is not as developed as others, it opens the door for librarians to continue to 
think about how to engage and use big data and the importance of discussion, collaboration, 
and ethical adoption of powerful and potentially transformative technologies.



292  College & Research Libraries March 2019

Big Data Shocks will be well received by those who are looking to further their knowl-
edge on big data, as well as those thinking about its role in the library. Given the complexity 
of the topic, Weiss is strategic yet comprehensive in addressing the changes, or shocks, that 
big data technology is playing in shaping our society. The author also does a good and often 
outstanding job in exploring the intersections and possible futures of big data and libraries. 
This work should help further the discussion and the work on approaching and using big 
data technologies in libraries, as well as the evolving role that librarians should and can have 
in the age of big data.—Kara Kugelmeyer, Colby College

Jana Brubaker. Text, Lies and Cataloging: Ethical Treatment of Deceptive Works in the Library. Jef-
ferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2018. 158p. Paper, $55.00 (ISBN 978-0-7864-9744-7).

In Text, Lies and Cataloging, Jana Brubaker explores the various issues 
that catalog professionals face in providing bibliographic descriptions 
of deceptive library resources. As she explains in her preface, creating 
accurate and useful catalog records for library users can be particularly 
challenging for works that contain inaccurate facts, deceive the reader 
through questionable authorship, or blur the boundaries of genre. The 
circumstances and possible cataloging solutions surrounding works 
of questionable authorship, authenticity, or veracity are multifari-
ous, and Brubaker’s stated dual goal is to provide “a resource that 
identifies, describes, and discusses questionable books” (pg. 1) and 
to “suggest a framework for navigating decisions that must be made 
when cataloging these materials” (pg. 2).

Taking into account the potential interest of this topic to noncata-
logers, the author begins her book with an articulate introduction into relevant cataloging 
terms. Brubaker, who has more than 25 years of cataloging experience, provides clear and 
concise explanations of the Machine Readable Cataloging (MARC) fields in which bibliographic 
records and authority records are encoded. She pays special attention to bibliographic fields 
that are relevant to the cataloging of questionable works and discusses the purposes of author-
ity records such as disambiguation and collocation. Her lucid explanations are accompanied 
by screenshots of two OCLC-MARC records, one of a bibliographic record and the other of 
an authority record, which have been altered to include explanatory labels and to provide 
complementary visual clarifications.

The next three chapters of the book discuss briefly the category of deceptive works and 
the obstacles to accurate cataloging, followed by a survey of the cataloging standards and 
professional codes of ethics. Brubaker describes the dilemmas that catalogers face in assess-
ing the veracity of deceptive works and the questionable authenticity of their authors. She 
continues to detail the principles of the professional standards that guide catalogers in their 
daily cataloging tasks, including among others the previous and current cataloging rules, 
the Statement of International Cataloguing Principles issued by the International Federation of 
Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and The Code of Ethics of the American Library 
Association. Collectively, these preliminary chapters provide an insightful review of the pro-
fessional values and responsibilities of catalogers relevant to deceptive works and propose a 
useful “framework for assessing these works in order to help catalogers decide what is ethical, 
practical, and necessary” (pg. 4).


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