Bibliographic records as humanities big data

Most discussion hitherto of big data in the humanities has assumed that it is characterized by its heterogeneous nature. This paper examines the extent to which bibliographic records generated by libraries represent a more homogenous form of humanities big data, more closely related to the observational big data generated by scientific data. It is suggested from an examination of the British Library catalogue that, while superficially bibliographic records appear to be created according to consistent standards and form a more homogenous dataset, close examination reveals that bibliographical records often go through a marked process of historical development. However, the critical methods require to disaggregate such data are perhaps analogous to those used in some scientific disciplines.