Reddit mentions of Data Model Patterns: A Metadata Map (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems)

Sounds a bit presumptuous and close-minded of him, like he's got some 'best practice' design in mind and intends to fit it to your business (or your business to it).

Maybe that will work, but without any real due diligence he runs the risk of it not working, finding himself trying to jam a square peg into a round hole long after the peg has been constructed and paid for.

Which may be the way his consulting company works - use the same cookie-cutter approach that works for 80% of businesses, taking acceptable losses on the 20% where it fails. It just sucks for those 20%.

As for your question #1, the most thorough analysis and abstraction of an organization's processes, data, and metadata I have yet come across is detailed in the book Data Model Patterns: A Metadata Map.

It answers the question of how do you model an organization or system when the things being modeled don't all fit into conventional categories. Here's a paper on it I just found on Google too.

As for question #2, I assume he meant by 'plugging some tables into others' that it will be expandable to accommodate future needs, organizational/process changes, and upgrades. Theoretically, a normalized database that correctly specifies and implements all relations b/t in-scope data and metadata should allow exactly that - incorporation of new data or metadata as the business changes (leaving aside for now decisions about stored procs and business logic).

But the way you relate it, it sounds more like he's using that to justify using his canned solution and leaving you guys to complete it later when he's gone and $100k richer.

For your particular application I would look at OpenStreetMaps. Otherwise...

David Hay's

• [Enterprise Model Patterns][1]. This is a beast of a book, but has some great patterns.
  
• [Conventions of Thought][2]. More stuff on MRP.
  
• [A Meta-Data Map][3] . Haven't read this one.
  
  Len Silverston's
  
  
• [Data Model Resource Book Vol. 1][4]. Your main data model patterns.
  
• [Data Model Resource Book Vol. 2][5]. Case studies by industry.
  
• [Data Model Resource Book Vol. 3][6]. A deeper explanation of Vol 1.
  
  Michael Blaha's [Patterns of Data Modeling][7]. This one has some interesting temporal, graph, and tree models.
  
  Martin Fowler's [Analysis Patterns][8]. This one skims some of the other patterns, but gives accounting a solid treatment.
  
  They are all well-rated, and I have read all but one, and they are all very good. Several of them are available on [safaribooksonline][9].
  
  Also, OASIS's [Universal Business Language][10], schemas
  
  
  [1]: http://www.amazon.com/Enterprise-Model-Patterns-Describing-Version/dp/1935504053/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346950468&sr=1-1&keywords=enterprise%20model%20patterns
  [2]: http://www.amazon.com/Data-Model-Patterns-David-Hay/dp/0932633749/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1PQPGE4E6T2RPR2XTN80
  [3]: http://www.amazon.com/Data-Model-Patterns-Metadata-Management/dp/0120887983/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1PQPGE4E6T2RPR2XTN80
  [4]: http://www.amazon.com/Data-Model-Resource-Book-Vol/dp/0471380237/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=08T9TEZJNZM2EMKZV3AB
  [5]: http://www.amazon.com/Data-Model-Resource-Book-Vol/dp/0471353485/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1D5TDG7479G7TQMBPNWF
  [6]: http://www.amazon.com/Data-Model-Resource-Book-Vol/dp/0470178450/ref=pd_sim_b_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=08T9TEZJNZM2EMKZV3AB
  [7]: http://www.amazon.com/Patterns-Modeling-Emerging-Directions-Applications/dp/1439819890/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346950554&sr=1-1&keywords=patterns%20of%20data%20modeling
  [8]: http://www.amazon.com/Analysis-Patterns-Reusable-Object-Models/dp/0201895420/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346961699&sr=1-1&keywords=analysis+patterns
  [9]: http://my.safaribooksonline.com/search?q=data%20model
  [10]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Business_Language