The Data Model Resource Book, Vol. 2: A Library of Data Models for Specific Industries

Although there are quite a few positive reviews for this series of three texts by Silverston, there are also a nontrivial number of dissenters as well, who cite use of Barker's notation rather than Crow's Foot notation (i.e. Information Engineering notation) as well as unexpected contents within the accompanying CD. When first introduced to Richard Barker's "Entity Relationship Modeling" text during graduate school, this reviewer does admit that becoming familiar with his notation did take some time to become familiar with it, but all told it does not deviate significantly from Crow's Foot, and after a short amount of time the reader will actually notice some advantages in using it, one of which is the reduced space that substantive models need to consume. Sure, additional information not available with the CD can be purchased on Silverston's companion web site at Wiley, but it really is not necessary. Not only are these downloads not necessary, these may detract from the process of understanding the material that Silverston is attempting to present. And Silverston presents very well.As Silverston explains in Volume 1, clients have inquired on numerous occasions where they can find texts showing standard ways to model data constructs, and "based on numerous experiences of using template or 'universal data models' and customizing them for various enterprises, we have concluded that usually more than 50 percent of the data model (corporate or logical) consists of common constructs that are applicable to most organizations, another 25 percent of the model is industry specific, and on average about 25 percent of the enterprise's data model is specific to that organization. Of course, as John Zachman indicates in this text, "Let's get pragmatic. Starting with a universal data model does not absolve anyone of the responsibility of knowing his or her own enterprise intimately, at even an excruciating level of detail! Nor does it absolve anyone from the responsibility of learning how to build data models! What you have to do is start with the universal model, and then understanding data modeling and understanding your own enterprise, make the necessary modifications to make the universal model your own."After presenting Barker's notation and basic modeling, the author presents models for the following industry areas in separate chapters: manufacturing, telecommunications, health care, insurance, financial services, professional services, travel, and e-commerce (the name of this last area is obviously a bit dated, since this book was published in 2001, but it does not detract in any meaningful way from the message). For each industry area, the author discusses issues of concern. For example, Silverston poses the following questions for the insurance industry: "How can we support the insurance coverage needs of our customers?", "How can we best sell products and services to meet those needs while maintaining proper risk levels?", "How can we improve customer service and maintain our customer relationships?", "How can we maximize revenues, minimize costs, and still maintain excellent service levels?", and "How can we ensure that our systems are flexible enough to allow us to change our business models quickly and easily?". And after explaining that information needs to be tracked in order to answer these types of questions, the author literally walks the reader through people and organizations in insurance, insurance products, insurance product coverage, insurance policies, premium schedules, and policy claims.Well recommended text, even if the reader is already familiar with the industry areas in which they are interested, because it can never hurt to get additional insight from other industry practitioners, and compared to other available resources the cost of this text is trivial.

This is the second of, evidently, three books in the series of books represented as the Data Model Resource Book. Those reading this review will likely have already purchased the first and be considering the second. Having been in the same position not so very long ago myself, I can heartily recommend such a purchase.The book here reviewed presents standard data models tailored to specific industries. My primary interest just now is insurance, as I work in the Insurance industry. At my company, we use the IBM Insurance Application Architecture Data Model. So naturally, I evaluate the author's representation of his insurance model against that very elaborate and even elegant model. And I must that I am very favorably impressed with the description of the model contained in this book. In fact, the description referenced above is much superior to that provided by IBM with their very elegant package. Of course, the IBM package is more comprehensive. However, a certain aspect of this excellent book appears also to be a subtle marketing campaign for the author's more complete industry models. Be that as it may, the book is excellent as is. We strongly recommend its purchase and serious consideration.

I purchased this book along with Volumes 1 and 3 and they've been great. Volume 2 I purchased for the Kindle and Volumes 1 and 3 in printed form. The Kindle version (as of 9/2010) was a mistake for the following reasons:(Running Kindle for PC on Windows 2010)1) Table of Contents: The links don't work correctly. So effectively, you are buying a book with no table of contents. Worse, since they take you to the wrong place, but the Kindle does't display where you are at by chapter or heading, its very confusing. Click on the TOC link for "Orders" for the professional services chapter, and you will end up in the manufacturing chapter, but you don't know it.2) Appendix Tables: These are rotated in the book, but there is no way to rotate the Kindle for PC, so they are difficult to read.3) Bookmarks: The ones I've created are hard to read (can't assign names) and jump to the previous page.So the Kindle version as a Reference Book is a pain.But do buy the printed version, and when they fix the kindle version, it should be fine too.

reference it at least once a week

The description of this book, on Amazon and on the back cover of the book, say that the CD-ROM contains the SQL scripts for the Data Models. This is not true! In fact there is nothing useful on the CD-ROM at all. It just has links to the Wiley website where you can PURCHASE the SQL scripts for the Data Models at $450 per model. This is a huge disappointment!The book itself (referring to Volume 2 specifically) does not give much on how or why the particular designs were chosen and no information on actually implementing the suggested models.You are basically paying for an advertisement for the author's other products. Buyer beware this is a rip-off and not worth the money.I am very surprised because Wiley usually publishes very good technical books and this is not typical of what they normally publish.

First the content: Contains everything that is not taught in graduate school (been there), and everything that a data modeller needs know about data modelling.Next the format: Consumerism at its worse! An incomplete template here, missing template there-a tease to lay out $400 for a complete set of templates (on top of the $100 plus for both volumes already laid out).The conclusion: invest in volume 1 and familiarize yourself with the valuable concepts layed out there-save your money and TIME with volume 2.

When you have an industry specific modeling job, this book makes short work of the process. Worth the cost to save the time.

Useful data models and concepts, but if you are an experienced software developer, there is no real news. A good reminder to think about data structures.

I definitely didn't look at the sample, tried to read it on several devices and got only 2 minutes read in total. The picture shows the whole content .... I can read all the other books on Kindle apps. I had to return it and not buying paper version of these books,

The models described in this book are more "specialized" than the first one. Plus, some of the web-related models are a little bizarre. But still, educative.