The Human Face of Big Data
By Rick Smolan and Jennifer Erwitt (Published by Against All Odds Productions, 2012).
It makes sense that a book about big data would be a big book. "The Human Face of Big Data" is not the usual coffee-table size book, big on graphics and short on substance. On the contrary, this 11x14 volume is encyclopedic on the subject. It gets across with indelible examples that big data not only is more data than could be imagined at any time prior to recent years, but that its compilation and analysis happens in such rapid fashion that patterns previously hidden are revealed. In other words, not only is there more of it, but its patterns of meaning has been unlocked. This means that problems that have seemed insoluble may now have solutions, and actions can be made to happen remotely and automatically in ways that were previously the province of science fiction...
Streaming, Sharing, Stealing: Big Data and the Future of Entertainment
By Michael D. Smith and Rahul Telang (Published by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2016)
I did not have to read very far into this book to find its relevance for any organization involved in communicating with a purpose, which is all organizations, especially those whose primary product is information, for example, organizations like yours. The goal of an association or fundraising organization, built around a single focus, is to keep its position as the main source of information for that focus -- the industry or pursuit it serves. To do so, it's not enough to have more and better content than anyone else. You must also make it accessible in contemporary formats...