Fresh information about data mining is made available to you every single day through specialty analytics sites, blogs, professional organizations, and even in the news. Deepen your data-mining knowledge with these resources.
Society of Data Miners
Professional organizations help members to advance their knowledge and careers. Members build networks by meeting peers and more experienced practitioners. They sharpen knowledge through ongoing education.
And they protect the profession in a variety of ways, such as establishing meaningful professional certification, establishing ethical standards, and even lobbying on public issues that affect members. The Society of Data Miners, founded in 2013, is the first professional organization devoted specifically to data mining.
KDnuggets
KDnuggets is a key data-mining industry news site. Hosted by respected data miner Gregory Piatetsky-Shapiro, KDnuggets provides an active stream of information about data-mining issues, events, jobs, and tools.
It’s worth your while to have a peek at KDnuggets on a regular basis. Posts here keep you up to date on hot issues in data mining and related topics. And it’s a good starting place for information that may not be utterly new, but is still new to you.
Links right on the home page, well-organized by subject, guide you to a wide variety of information resources. Subjects covered include basics like software, classes, and jobs, as well as specialties like competitions, calls for research papers, and even data-mining humor.
All Analytics
All Analytics is an industry publication that covers a wide variety of data analysis topics. Sponsored by one of the large software vendors, this site features brief, professionally written and edited posts on data analysis. New articles are posted daily, with thousands more in the archives.
Here are representative posts:
“3 Approaches to Justifying Analytics Results,” by Bryan Beverly, a statistician from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
“Cellphone Tracking: Protection vs. Privacy,” by Ariella Brown, writer and social media consultant
“Anatomy of a Data Management Project,” by Fabian Pascal, founder, editor, and publisher, Database Debunkings.
The New York Times
When you hear people at a cocktail party arguing over the value or ethics of somebody’s data-gathering or analysis practices, chances are that the argument started with something that appeared in The New York Times.
The New York Times often features stories about data analysis, but that’s not necessarily what you’ll see in the headline. The articles that get people talking about data have titles that describe what people are doing, not how they do it.
Here’s an example: In Charles Duhigg’s 2012 piece “How Companies Learn Your Secrets,” he described one retailer’s interest in finding customers expecting the birth of a child, because people often change shopping habits when they have a baby.
The article’s headline does not scream data analysis, but that’s what it was all about, and that article became the talk of the industry, as well as the seed of many an argument, for months after its publication. Look past the titles, and you’ll see that The New York Times contains fresh information that relates to data analysis most every day.
Forbes
Forbes is a business publication that emphasizes the business dealings and prospects of publicly traded companies and industries. It often features posts on the market for various data-related products and services. Get started with Forbes by checking out the posts of these contributors who focus on data-related topics — Gil Press (Pressed Data), Piyanka Jain (Putting Data to Work), Naomi Robbins (Effective Graphs), and Lisa Arthur (The Marketing Revolution).
SmartData Collective
SmartData Collective is an analytics industry site that features curated content by analytics professionals. Most articles found here are reposted from lesser-known blogs of independent analytics practitioners and small industry sites, and you find original content as well. New posts appear daily.
Representative posts are as follows:
“What You Need to Know About Cloud Analytics,” by Timo Elliott, innovation evangelist at SAP
“What the ‘Small Data’ Revolution Means for Marketers,” by Noah Jessop, cofounder and CEO of CommandIQ
“How Data Will Make Air Travel Safer,” by Travis Korte, a research analyst at the Center for Data Innovation
CRISP-DM Process Model
CRISP-DM is the predominant data-mining process and the unofficial industry standard. The CRISP-DM Process Model, a detailed guide from the industry consortium that developed CRISP_DM, explains elements of the process, why and how it was developed, and many step-by-step data-mining details.
Nate Silver
Nobody in the world of data analysis communicates like blogger and statistician Nate Silver. That’s why he’s the most famous statistician in the world. (He’s the only famous statistician in the world, evidence that the rest of us need to work on our communication skills!) Nate’s also a master of data analysis, so learn from the best by reading his blog.
Analytics articles page
You can find out more about data mining and the wonderful world of analytics right now with the articles at the author's web page. Example articles are as follows:
Discover secrets of analytics management in “Analytics, Schmanalytics! How to Evaluate an Analyst.”
Get shocking behind-the-scenes details on the analytics industry in “Secrets of a Software Vendor.”
Develop skills you’ve only dreamed about in “How I Met Your Model.”
First Internet gallery of statistics jokes
Need a joke for your presentation? Or perhaps you just want a little break. Visit the go-to location for geeky statistics humor.