Workshop 1: Using Atlas-ti to explore qualitative data
Libby Bishop (ESDS, UK Data Archive, University of Essex)
Louise Corti (ESDS, UK Data Archive, University of Essex)
In this workshop we will present an overview of the uses and range of computer assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) packages.nbsp;nbsp; Focusing on the software Atlas-ti, through hands-on sessions and exercises, participants will be introduced to the particular applications and key functions of the software.nbsp;nbsp; The session is intended to be practical, intensive and aims to get participants started with the software by familiarizing them with the initial usage tools, data preparation considerations, importing data into software, 'coding' data (attaching thematic labels to segments of data), searching and retrieval of coded data, use of annotation and "memoing" tools, and exporting quantitative data.nbsp;nbsp; Archived qualitative data from ESDS Qualidata will be used as the data sources.
Workshop 2: DDI 101: Codebook Creation for Beginners
William (Bill) Block (University of Minnesota)
This workshop will provide a brief introduction to DDI and XML (for example, what elements and attributes are, and the most important DDI elements for beginners) and then move on to a hands-on exercise in which participants create DDI codebooks from actual documents they have brought from their local settings. The bulk of the session will be hands-on entry by participants, resulting in a DDI-compliant file. Freely-roaming instructors will be available throughout the workshop for questions and advice. The emphasis of the workshop is on applying the DDI to participants' work-related documents. For this session, participants should bring a codebook file in MSWord or ASCII on a CD, iomega zip (100 or 250) or USB flash drive.
Workshop 3: Using Streaming Geospatial Data Sources
Steve Morris (North Carolina State University)
In the past few years new streaming geospatial data sources have become available, allowing users and their applications to interact with remote geospatial data resources and services without actually downloading the data. These services are based on proprietary technologies such as ESRI's 'image server' and 'feature server' as well on open technologies such as the Open GIS Consortium WMS ('Web Map Service') and WFS ('Web Feature Service') specifications. This workshop will focus on consumption of such data sources and services, with an eye to integrating these new resources with more traditional file-based data offerings. Topics to be addressed include: demystifying the alphabet soup of WMS, WFS, WCS, GML, etc.; identifying and evaluating some existing streaming data sources; discussing the advantages and pitfalls of using streaming data in project work and research; and highlighting challenges related to integration of streaming data with traditional file-based data in catalogs and metadata databases. The discussion will include hands-on examination of some existing streaming geospatial data services. While the workshop will primarily focus on consumption of such services, a brief overview of approaches to publishing streaming data will also be provided. Also to be considered is the challenge posed to data preservation by the elimination of data file acquisition as a necessary precursor to providing data access.
Workshop 4: DDI 501: Increasing Proficiency and Efficiency with DDI
Sanda Ionescu (ICPSR, University of Michigan)
I-Lin Kuo (ICPSR, University of Michigan)
In this follow-up workshop, participants will learn about transformations from document sources such as PDF, Word, Excel, SAS/SPSS syntax files, and SAS/SPSS export and system files and will have an opportunity to perform document conversions themselves. Issues of display through different stylesheets, markup tools, and repurposing of text will also be addressed, with useful examples. Workshop participants are encouraged to bring their questions about markup and to share the challenges they face with respect to markup in their own environments. Individuals with a working knowledge of DDI should feel free to elect DDI 501 without taking the introductory workshop.
Workshop 5: STATA, SPSS, and SAS: Flavors of Statistical Software
Michelle Edwards (University of Guelph)
So many different flavors to choose from - how will we ever choose? Are they all the same? Do they have the same functionality? Which one should I use? Which is the quickest to learn? Questions many of us have encountered in one form or another. This workshop will take you on a quick tour of Stata, SPSS, and SAS. We will examine a data file using each package. Is one more user-friendly than the others? Are there significant differences in the codebooks created? We will also look at creating a frequency and cross-tabulation table in each. Which output screen is easiest to read and interpret? The goal of this workshop is to give you an overview of these products and provide you with the information you need to determine which package fits the requirements of you and your user. Please bring your experiences and/or horror stories about working with statistical software to this workshop. Together we'll try to demystify the flavors of statistical software and help you decide on a favorite flavor.
Workshop 6: Creating Web Based Surveys Using MySQL and PHP
Aaron K. Shrimplin (Miami University of Ohio)
Jen-chien Yu (Miami University of Ohio)
Do you ever conduct surveys or help faculty or graduate students develop them? Have you found yourself wishing for tools that would simplify the collection and use of survey data? If so, this workshop is for you! "Creating web-based surveys using MySQL and PHP" is designed for data professionals and researchers who would like to use Web technologies to speed up the process of disseminating surveys and retrieving, organizing, and coding survey data. The workshop will begin with brief demonstrations of different approaches for creating surveys in online environments. Hands-on training will then teach you how to: script a web-based survey using PHPcreate a MySQL database for storing the survey data generate reports based on real-time data add visual presentation to the reports create a portable data file that can be used for statistical analysis
2004-05-26: Plenary I
2004-05-26: A1: The Diverse World of Digital Libraries
Multimedia Oral History Database
Zoltan Lux (Institute for the History of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution)
The Oral History Archive at the 1956 Institute in Budapest contains about a thousand life interviews. A good two-thirds of these tie in with the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, as they contain recollections by participants or their children. They vary in length between 50 and several thousand pages. Each was made as a sound recording. Thanks to a successful competitive application for funds, a start could be made in 2003 to digitize the recordings and the texts. The purpose is to preserve the interviews in digital form. Since the existing database handling system cannot store large files, we began by devising a data-archiving program system based on Oracle. This was not just intended to provide efficient data storage. It also set out to meet the standards of international practice (DDI) and promote later development of a still more efficient content-based search facility. Much of the material is confidential in character and cannot be published, so that great care had to be taken in devising a system of entitlement grades for access. Special heed has been paid to making it possible to have interconnection with other databases, for which we are seeking partners. At present, a provisional test version is accessible at the URL: server2001.rev.hu/oha/index.html.
Economic Growth Center Digital Library: Creating Access to Statistical Sources Not Born Digital
Ann Green (Yale University)
Julie Linden (Yale University)
The Economic Growth Center Digital Library (ssrs.yale.edu/egcdl), funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, digitizes and makes accessible a selection of Mexican state statistical abstracts from Yale University Library's Economic Growth Center Library Collection. In a departure from most digital libraries, which concentrate on images or texts, EGCDL focuses on statistical tables. This project addresses issues and challenges unique to statistical materials, such as: Evaluating whether common digitization practices and standards, generally developed for images and text, are ideally suited to statistically-intensive documents.Automating metadata production for thousands of PDF and Excel files. Detailed table-level metadata records will be created in XML according to the Data Documentation Initiative (DDI) specification, including the DDI aggregate data extension. In addition to a user interface that presents the PDF versions of the statistical abstracts along with individual tables from the series, a selection of tables and metadata also will be presented in the Nesstar system. This will allow users to browse lists of tables by topic, state, and year, and to search across the entire collection for specific individual tables. We also address the long-term preservation of the digital materials produced in this project and their relationship to the original printed source materials.
Mercator is a network of three research and documentation centres dealing with the regional and minority languages which are spoken by more than forty million citizens of the European Union. The Mercator-Education centres started with a pilot project for the creation of a digital library on European Minority Languages with text, image and sound. The project is financed by the Royal Dutch Academy of Scientists. The pilot will take one year and will be carried out with Frisian digital material. The aim is to develop a digital library to index, classify and catalogue scientific sources concerning European minority languages and knowledge of and from academic researchers. The content will cover linguistics, sociolinguistics, literature, media, legislation, education, culture history and language policy. The pilot will serve as a development model for partners in other European linguistic communities. This presentation will focus on some of the crucial issues of this project, like the creation of a user profile and contentplan. Also very important is the set of requirements and functionalities which should help to decide which type of applications or tools are necessary. Formats and standards have to be chosen for metadata, the repository, the publications, etc. Organisation is a crucial aspect, but also practical matters such as 'flexible' user interfaces are very important.
2004-05-26: A2: Pulling It All Together: Strategies in Data Preparation
Separating Our Concerns: Evaluating the Use of Apache's Cocoon Project to Efficiently Manage Data Tasks at the Minnesota Population Center
William C. Block (Minnesota Population Center)
Each year more and more social science data is made available to researchers, and with it comes an ever-surging demand for easy access to data over the web. Such demands place a substantial technical burden on data providers, who must constantly prepare and update datasets, websites, and related documentation. At the Minnesota Population Center such activities are carried out by a small army of workers, including research staff, programmers, and web designers, that specialize in various aspects of the data preparation and dissemination process. As the size and complexity of our data projects has grown, so has our need to efficiently accomplish our tasks. Getting research staff (who do most of the data preparation), programmers (who often do "back end" processing work), and web designers (responsible for the "front end" look and feel of our projects) to work efficiently together can be a major challenge. This presentation will describe our evaluation of Apache's Cocoon Project to "separate the concerns" of our research staff, programmers, and designers so that each group can work independently yet in parallel to efficiently achieve their tasks.
Mixing It: Preparing Qual+Quant Data Collections for Dissemination: Experiences from the UK Data Archive
Louise Corti (UK Data Archive, University of Essex)
In this paper I will provide an overview of some of the challenges faced by the UK Data Archive in accessioning and processing mixed methods collections, i.e., those comprising quantitative and qualitative data. I will discuss issues pertaining to: data preparation including issues of case-linkage and anonymity; descriptive/cataloguing requirements; documentation or user guide preparation; and staff skill and training requirements. Two case studies will be used to illuminate the problems and solutions.
Practical Viability of Multiple Imputation as a Tool for Disclosure Protection for Large Scale Recurring Surveys
Pat Doyle (U.S. Census Bureau)
The literature often cites potential threats to the continued viability of microdata products arising from the increased availability of administrative data in the public domain and the decreased barriers to access by individuals not skilled in data processing. Yet demand for such products continues to rise as research and public policy demands on data become more sophisticated and require more in-depth analysis of the complexities of modern society. If the threat becomes real and the demand for microdata continues, the social science community will need an alternative to the traditional microdata products. Current research toward replacements for public use microdata files includes, among other options, proposals to disseminate analytically valid synthetic microdata. To date the research has focused on the methodology and on experiments designed to determine validity of the approach. There is another area of research needed to determine whether such methods can gain acceptance as a production tool by the data producers and the data users in the statistical community. In particular, producers need to understand what they can do to ensure users will have faith in the quality of the estimates derived from synthetic data. This presentation solicits feedback on the concept of disseminating synthetic data generated from a multiple imputation synthesizing methodology currently under development.
2004-05-26: A3: Collaboration among Data Providers: Strength in Numbers
Data Curation and Digital Preservation: A View from the UK (Part 12)
Peter Burnhill (EDINA National Data Centre and University Data Library)
Robin Rice (EDINA National Data Centre and University Data Library)
The Digital Curation Centre (DCC; www.dcc.ac.uk) has been established and funded by the UK government to provide leadership to the academic community on the related problems of scientific data curation and the long-term digital preservation of scholarly output. The funders awarded the bid to a consortium of four UK institutions, led by the University of Edinburgh, to provide a range of services for the initial three years of the centre's funding. The other partners are the University of Glasgow's Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute, the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils at Rutherford and Daresbury Appleton Laboratories, and the UK Office for Library and Information Networking at Bath. Each site will contribute a different expertise to the Centre, which is currently in the set-up phase of its operation. This paper will describe how a widely distributed partnership is being managed to achieve several 'proper tensions:' between the needs of the hard sciences, which represent one end of the continuum, and the needs of the soft disciplines of the social sciences and humanities along the other end; between the need for cutting edge research which will improve the state of knowledge about preservation and database curation, and the need for quick development of tools tuned to the immediate needs of the users; and among a vast array of international standards efforts and preservation tools developed under hugely disparate circumstances, all of which will be in competition for certification or publicity by the Centre, to be rubber-stamped (or not) as deserving adoption by communities of practice. Peter Burnhill, Director (Phase One) of the DCC during the set-up phase, will outline some of the drivers behind the decision to set-up the Centre, the strategy being adopted to engage such a diverse range of communities, and the approach being taken to make an organisation from four partner institutions, drawing upon experience gained in setting up the EDINA National Data Centre nine years ago. Robin Rice, Phase One Project Coordinator, will describe what the social sciences have both to offer and to learn from the other disciplines in the emerging fields of data curation and digital preservation, with a focus on the current state of the art and the challenges ahead.
Historical research increasingly uses and produces data, and archiving of these data is relevant for the same reasons that archiving of social science data is relevant. Actually, archiving of historical research data also raises some issues that are not that pressing when dealing with social science data. Discussions between the institutions that archive historical data were quite vivid 10 to 15 years ago but until recently there has been a period of silence. Some of the archives involved are trying to remedy that, because cooperation is as relevant when archiving historical data as when archiving social science data. Actually, there is a broad area of common problems between Social Science Data Archives and History Data Archives and many of the Social Science Data Archives are to greater or lesser extent custodians of historical research data. This presentation will point to some relevant areas of cooperation.
2004-05-26: B1: Assessing User Needs and Data Services
Thinking Strategically: Development of a Library Data Services Plan
Katherine McNeill-Harman (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Over the past several years, developments in technology and research have changed the ways in which libraries and their users interact with social science data. Moreover, the integrated and interdisciplinary nature of data requires collaboration among departments and organizations, as well as with providers of data related to GIS and scientific applications. These increasing and changing demands on the part of users present challenges for institutions in allocating their limited resources. In order to plan strategically to meet these needs, the MIT Libraries conducted a project to create a 3 year Data Services Plan. The plan contains goals for reference, instruction, collection development, personnel, facilities, computing, evaluation, and implementation. This presentation will describe the process of creating the Data Services Plan, including user studies, staff input, and research among peers in the social science data community. Additionally, it will discuss challenges faced, the development of priorities, and strategies for implementation.
Data Services Awareness and Use Survey: Assessing Secondary Data Needs at the University of Tennessee
Eleanor J. Read (University of Tennessee)
In recent years, the University of Tennessee has been striving to increase awareness and use of data services provided by the Libraries. A major move in that direction was hiring, for the first time, a data services librarian who could provide more specialized and proactive service to campus researchers. After three years with this new arrangement, we decided to conduct a survey to learn more about our secondary data users and to gauge the effectiveness of our various promotional activities. This session will describe the process used to gather information from faculty and graduate students in a variety of departments about the use of secondary data in their research, and about their awareness and use of the Libraries' Data Services. The results of the survey, completed by about 375 respondents, will be used to help plan future services and target groups that are potential data users.
Building the Statistical Knowledge Network: A Progress Report
Carol Hert (Syracuse University)
Finding and using statistics can be challenging because such information is located in multiple places and exists in large volumes. Efforts such as FedStats (www.fedstats.gov) address the challenge by providing gateways. Our project takes these efforts further by proposing the Statistical Knowledge Network (SKN). We envision a seamless network, where users have transparent access to varied statistical information. The SKN would enable people to find statistics without having to know particular sources, and provide context for understanding and use. Over the last 4 years, we have been developing the SKN: developing a suite of tools for end-users, conceptualizing the architecture, and conducting user studies. In this presentation, we present a status report on our work to date and our future directions. Acknowledgments: Other contributors to this work are Gary Marchionini and Stephanie W. Haas of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and Ben Shneiderman and Catherine Plaisant, of the University of Maryland-College Park. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant EIA 0131824. Project information is available at http://ils.unc.edu/govstat.
2004-05-26: C1: Reinventing a Data Archive in the 21st Century: Process Improvement at ICPSR
2004-05-26: C2: Mapping the Past with GIS
Counting Cows and Cabbages: Web-based Extraction and Delivery of Geo-referenced Data
Stuart Macdonald (Edinburgh University Data Library)
As we move towards a 'common geographic framework' for a range of data, the concept of 'walking across' geo-spatial resources as diverse as population censuses, digital mapping data, historic statistical data, and digital boundary data, is becoming a reality, with the potential for introducing or removing 'layers' of geo-referenced data to suit the sophisticated needs of end-users. To use such data users must be able to find it and ascertain quality and suitability, thus the need for robust metadata with appropriate geographic tagging. The Agricultural Data Service (AgDS), as part of Edinburgh University Data Library, supplies geo-referenced data, derived from Agricultural Censuses from 1969, on the distribution of agricultural activity in Great Britain. For any year the data are collected for groups of farm holdings and made available as grid square estimates at various resolutions based on the British National Grid. This paper will describe the evolution from a command-line driven extraction and delivery service, to an online, web-based service complete with geo-interface allowing data visualisation and end-user interaction. Such a mechanism and resource forms part of a 'common geographic framework' that allows diverse geo-referenced data to be located by standardised common themes.
Effort Towards a Dutch Historical Geographic Information System
Luuk Schreven (Netherlands Institute for Scientific Information Services (NIWI))
The history department of the Netherlands Institute for Scientific Information Services (NIWI) has recently started a Historical GIS project. The project will be set up as a pilot that first of all focuses on the Dutch censuses that were held between 1795 and 1971. More historical datasets will become available through this GIS in the future if this pilot is successful. Within the project we will focus on a geographical level that is below the municipality. The least aggregated data available in the census records concern districts and neighbourhoods. This presentation will address the basic principles of our GIS project and the progress made thus far.
NHGIS: The Bonus Materials
Wendy Thomas (Minnesota Population Center)
The goal of the National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) is to collect, describe, and provide access to U.S. aggregate data going back to 1790 and to create the boundary files for counties and tracts back to their inception. Our approach has always been to integrate over 300 file descriptions and millions of data item descriptions through the DDI metadata description. In doing this integration, we have created a wide range of auxiliary files describing: geographic entities and their relationships over time cross-walks between various coding systems over time legal name changes of geographic entities geographic hierarchies and their relationships to each other DDI instances of standard variables (ready to cut-edit-and-paste) and more. For data users and particularly for data archivists and metadata creators these are truly bonus materials. The files are all ASCII fixed format and come with DDI compliant metadata. The modular approach of NHGIS lets you benefit from our work without tying you to the NHGIS system itself. This presentation will show you those materials currently available and what we're working on in the future. Hopefully our work will allow you to save time and increase the benefit of the NHGIS project to the research world.
2004-05-26: C3: Data Management Infrastructures: Advances in Processing and Dissemination
UIS RUSSIA Technologies for Social Sciences Research Network
Tatyana Yudina (Moscow State University, UIS RUSSIA)
The UIS RUSSIA (University Information System RUSSIA), www.cir.ru, operates since 2000 as a freely-accessible Internet-based collective digital library for research and education in social sciences. The system maintains holdings of social domain data and documents obtained from primary sources: government, non-governmental organizations and private holders. Currently the system integrates 1.5+ million documents from 60+ collections. Users' increasing demand for additional holdings and the numerous high-quality resources maintained inside the research community have led the UIS RUSSIA team to develop a distributed network of high-quality holdings among participating organizations. The team is sharing the technology created with other participants ready to adopt the software to process their holdings and make the metadata available for the UIS RUSSIA search engine. Cooperation has started with several journals, online sites and other resources. A user may search across these virtually integrated collections and download full text documents from a holder's server. This approach is particularly appropriate for some partners whose information cannot be held on remote servers due to its status or commercial interests. Support and trouble-shooting is provided by the UIS RUSSIA team. The presentation will discuss the progress of this project.
New User Interface for Managing the Archiving Process in FSD
Jouni Sivonen (Finnish Social Science Data Archive)
In the beginning of its operations, the Finnish Social Science Data Archive (FSD) started to use a simple Access97 database for managing the archiving process of data. This database, called Tiipii, was developed gradually as the routine procedures for archiving were being established. In 2002 FSD started a new project called Tiipii2, aiming to replace the old interface and database with a more user friendly graphical user interface (GUI) and a new relational database. At the moment the GUI is at the testing stage. It will be used to control the data archiving process and to handle internal and external information services. The project has been implemented by open source tools. The paper presents the system which consists of 1) PostgreSQL database in Linux platform, 2) Java code using J2SE, and 3) CORBA architecture using JacORB, which is a free Java implementation of the OMG's CORBA standard.
Getting Wired: Caffeinating Microdata Production at the Minnesota Population Center with Java
Marcus Peterson (Minnesota Population Center)
Preparing new Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) datasets for public release can be a time-consuming and painstaking process. Even after the digitization and harmonization of a given dataset, considerable work is still required in disseminating the data and its supplementary documentation to the public. To expedite the turnaround of new and often disparate datasets, the Minnesota Population Center (MPC) has developed a suite of Java-based utilities for generating viewable microdata documentation. Powered by centralized metadata, these tools comprise a generalized application programmer interface (API) for documenting frequencies, coding schemes, and overall IPUMS variable design. This Java API employs object-oriented principles to minimize dataset-specific programming and to ensure the rapid deployment of new data. Furthermore, the IPUMS API provides the core of the newly redesigned web-based data dissemination system. These recent programming advances will enable MPC researchers to process and release new IPUMS data with increased accuracy, efficiency, and speed.
2004-05-27: D1: When Metadata Standards Meet: Issues of Language and Interoperability
Can DDI Records Be Accurately Transformed to Catalog-ready MARC 21 Format?
Harrison Dekker (University of California, Berkeley)
One of the side effects of the increasingly digital nature of library collections is the "hidden resource" problem. As collections become more "virtual," traditional approaches to cataloging, for a variety of reasons, often fall short. As a result, it becomes hard, if not impossible, for users to locate these materials. At UC Berkeley, numerical data is one such hidden resource. A recent review of the numerical data holdings in UC Berkeley Library catalog revealed that much of the library's data holdings were either inaccurately or not cataloged. Given the importance of numerical data sets in teaching and research, a solution was sought to redress these issues. Because of the scope and importance of the ICPSR data collection, it was given priority. After determining that a complete set of catalog records was not available, a decision was made to investigate whether ICPSR's freely available DDI-compliant XML metadata could be efficiently transformed to catalog-quality MARC21 records. In this presentation, I'll discuss the outcome of the project, the technical details of the conversion process, and the problems encountered along the way.
Laying the Groundwork for Addressing Interoperability Issues between Geo-spatial Metadata Standards, the DDI and Dublin Core
Tony Mathys (UK Data Archive, University of Essex)
Kenneth Miller (UK Data Archive, University of Essex)
Recent approval of the ISO 19115 Geographic Information Metadata standard offers an opportunity to assess the relationship between geo-spatial and social science portals in terms of interoperability. Numerous social science datasets hold a geo-spatial component and measures are to be discussed and introduced over time to assure that these datasets can be discovered through co-ordinate-based queries. Furthermore, the social sciences and geo-spatial technologies need to come together to assure that a common element set is considered or measures are taken to support cross-searches between geo-spatial and social science portals. These are the challenges that have come to light during activities associated with the MADIERA project and the joint UK Data Archive (University of Essex) and EDINA (University of Edinburgh) geo-portal project. The MADIERA project is directed at providing a common integrated interface to the resources of the majority of the existing social science data archives in Europe. The geo-portal project is intended to provide a geo-data portal to serve as a resource discovery tool for the UK academic geo-spatial community.
Implementing an ISO/IEC 11179-3 Metadata Repository for Labour Market Data: Building Semantics through Data Structures
Rob Grim (Institute for Labour Studies, Tilburg University)
Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers (Institute for Labour Studies, Tilburg University)
The increasing demand for documentation of the workflow to keep track of large amounts of statistical tables and international comparative research urges the Institute for Labour Studies (ILS) to implement a metadata repository. The ISO/IEC 11179-3 standard offers explicit guidelines for developing metadata-registries. One of the core fundamentals for an ISO/IEC 11179-3 metadata repository is the separation of a conceptual layer from a data representation layer. The paper shows the experiences of the ILS with implementing the necessary data structures for setting up a registry for labour market data. The mapping of data element concepts to conceptual domains and data elements using a concept browser is illustrated. Further it is shown how the concept browser facilitates the management and navigation of knowledge domains in labour market research.
2004-05-27: D2: Privacy, Security, and Information Today
Internet Surveillance: Recent U.S. Developments
Juri Stratford (University of California, Davis)
The U.S. Federal government has recently implemented both technologies and policies related to Internet surveillance. This paper looks at recent U.S. developments, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Carnivore software, new authorities relating to electronic evidence under the Patriot Act, and the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness Program.
An Empirical Examination of the Concern for Information Privacy Construct in the New Zealand Context
Ellen Rose (Institute of Information and Mathematical Sciences, Massey University)
Moore stated "since societies differ, the desire or need for privacy will vary historically, from one society to another and among different groups in the same society." This study uses confirmatory factor analysis on a random sample of 459 New Zealanders to further examine the structure of the recently developed Concern for Information Privacy (CFIP) construct in a post September 11 environment in a similar western society that has a different regulatory model with respect to protecting the privacy of personal information. Similar findings on CFIP's dimensions and its treatment as a second-order factor strengthen the findings of previous empirical tests of the CFIP instrument developed by Smith, et al. since the sample demographics and the time of data collection differ. In addition, theoretical relationships between CFIP, consumer knowledge of current policy, regulatory preferences, negative experiences with private and government organizations, and different situations under which information might be revealed were examined with the results showing some interesting differences. The New Zealand regulatory model is a middle ground between the strict directives of the European Union and the self-regulatory environment of the United States, making it an interesting context to study in the interest of contributing to balancing the needs of society, individuals and international trade with respect to privacy of personal information.
Thomas E. Brown (National Archives and Records Administration)
A key weapon in the war on terrorism is information. The information in data archives around the world is no exception. This presentation will explore how the U.S. National Archives is changing its access policies to the databases in its holdings that have become "records of concern." This includes evolving guidelines to identify those databases that need to be restricted. After concluding that certain databases may be records of concern, the Archives is limiting access to records previously available. But in the effort to make some information available, it is also trying to use techniques previously developed for protecting confidentiality of individuals to grant limited access to these databases of concern.
2004-05-27: D3: Ensuring Data Quality: Aim High
Elementary Data Quality Elements
Karsten Boye Rasmussen (University of Southern Denmark)
Data quality is obviously a good thing and an attractive goal to pursue. But what is data quality? The paper will give an overview of the literature on data quality and present the intuitive, the empirical and the ontological approaches that lead to a focus on dimensions or elements of data quality. The context of the paper is data for use in the data warehouse. The proposition is that data quality is not a static measure and that although data should not be changed by the users of the data, the users' use of the data can build information for a context or metadata. The proposition is that the improved metadata dynamically can improve the data quality even though data are "frozen."
Meaning and Illusion in US Economic Statistics: A Case for Education and Restricted Access to Federal Statistical Microdata on Organizations
Martin David (University of Wisconsin - Madison)
Economic indicators are cited and analyzed by persons who know little of their accuracy or meaning. Net change in employment, percent change in GDP and productivity, and the level of Federal budget surplus evoke comment and action inconsistent with uncertainty in these estimates and their imperfect links to well-being, growth, and health of the economy. I present paradoxes in the meaning of these indicators and demonstrate gaps in users' understanding of underlying measurements. Closing the gaps entails three efforts. 1) Data disseminators and archivists need to develop training modules and check lists to guide uninitiated users and stimulate questioning about epistemology. 2) Academics training professional economists and statisticians must increase training on measurement of economic activities. 3) Research access to statistical microdata archives on organizations must be substantially increased. That access entails increased documentation and reduced cost for scientific investigation of those microdata. I explain how these thoughts led to the creation of the program of studies on economic statistics that I created for the Joint Program in Survey Methodology (University of Maryland, University of Michigan, and WESTAT). Widespread understanding of the meaning of economic indicators will increase productivity and relevance of research on those indicators.
Missing Data Allocation in the IPUMS: Minnesota Allocation Techniques and Customizable Tools for Researchers
Colin Davis (Minnesota Population Center)
The IPUMS (Integrated Public Use Microdata Series) software takes public use samples of census or survey microdata and, along with harmonizing variable categories, corrects logical inconsistencies and missing values. The U.S. Census Bureau has released public use samples for 1940 to the present in which missing values have been allocated and logical inconsistencies have been corrected. In contrast, historical samples of the U.S. Census (1850 through 1920) created by the Minnesota Population Center, as well as many modern international samples, must undergo missing data allocation to correct logical inconsistencies and missing values. The Minnesota Population Center has developed a second generation of data conversion software to produce all IPUMS data, including missing data allocation. The original software allocated missing data in the U.S. samples 1850-1920. Our second generation software had to do the same, and also add as much extensibility as possible in order to accommodate future microdata projects. To this end, the new data conversion program interprets an "allocation table definition" that describes tables for a hot-deck donation and allocation procedure. This presentation will describe the technology and procedures used to allocate missing data at the MPC, including a demonstration of software that allows researchers to customize missing data allocation rules as desired.
2004-05-27: E1: DDI in Practice
Developing the DDI and Its Applications in Taiwan
Alfred Ko-wei Hu (Center for Survey Research, Academia Sinica)
The Data Documentation Initiative is an important infrastructure, and step as well, toward building a web-oriented data archive. Yet the preparation of a DDI codebook and the development of DDI-related web applications produce new challenges to the data archive formerly based mainly on standalone PCs as the primary medium for data storage and daily operation. In this paper, the DDI experience at the Center of Survey Research at Academia Sinica in Taipei will be studied. The issues to be addressed in this paper include the following: 1) the problems in creating a DDI codebook, 2) the development of related tools used for processing the DDI codebook, 3) the relationship between DDI and relational database, and 4) the development of web applications in relation to DDI. While the Center of Survey Research at Academia Sinica in Taiwan is a young and small-sized data archive by international standards, it is hoped that its experience in the DDI project can shed light on the future development of the DDI and its add-on tools.
Cataloguing Individual Data Values within an On-line Visualisation System Using the DDI Aggregate Data Extension: The New Great Britain Historical GIS
Humphrey Southall (Great Britain Historical GIS Project, University of Portsmouth)
The Great Britain Historical GIS Project makes British historical statistics widely available, especially census data for a local history audience. Much data has been computerised or assembled from collaborators, but until recently was held as many separate tables structured like the paper originals; like most archives, it was a library of datasets, not of data. A new architecture has been developed in which all statistical data are held in one column of one table, with millions of rows. Other columns contextualise data values via links to three metadata sub-systems. Location in time and space are recorded via a systematic gazetteer, based on the Alexandria Digital Library Gazetteer Content Standard and previously presented at IASSIST. The Source Documentation System links data values to the census reports they came from, enabling reassembly of the original tables. The Data Documentation System is based on the DDI Aggregate/Tabular Data Extension and plays a more interpretative role, enabling comparisons over time and defining new derived values.
A DTD for Qualitative Data: Extending the DDI to Mark-up the Content of Non-numeric Data
Louise Corti (UK Data Archive, University of Essex)
Libby Bishop (UK Data Archive, University of Essex)
In this paper we present a set of recommended elements (tags) that might enable the DDI to be extended to the description of the structure and content of qualitative social science data. The DDI is appropriate for describing study, file and variable level information for qualitative datasets, but TEI-like headers are also required to enable XML-based data exploration. ESDS Qualidata has identified a growing need for a standard framework (for data and content-level metadata) for facilitating the sharing, presentation and exchange of digital qualitative data via the web. To this end we have already developed a basic prototype methodology using XML standards and technologies. Recent work has focused on specifying a general and formal application for encoding, searching and retrieving the content of a broad class of social science data resources. Work in progress has been to formulate a recommended set of guidelines for preparing and marking-up data to a common and minimum recommended XML-based standard, for data providers/publishers to publish to online data systems, such as ESDS Qualidata Online, and software companies who currently offer qualitative data analysis software to consider with data exchange in mind.
Kenneth Miller (UK Data Archive, University of Essex)
As part of the MADIERA project (Multilingual Access to Data Infrastructures of the European Research Area), the development of an eight language multi-lingual thesaurus has continued. This paper highlights the changes made within the NESSTAR publisher to make the tasks of assigning index terms from this thesaurus at study, variable group and variable level to DDI marked-up metadata both consistent and less resource intensive. The ability to easily add high quality data content to the new MADIERA system has been given greatest priority in this project, so that the eventual end-user features can be demonstrated to their best advantage. It is hoped that a prototype user interface, exploiting the power of the thesaurus, will be available in time for the IASSIST conference.
2004-05-27: E2: Developing Statistical Literacy: Think Globally, Work Locally
Do It Yourselves: A Peer-to-peer Approach to Professional Training
Wendy Watkins (Carleton University)
Information flowing from government sources is so voluminous and is disseminated in such a variety of formats that information professionals are under constant pressure to keep pace. To complicate matters, access to these resources is increasingly being driven by changes in communication policies and computing technology. The information professional is often responsible for staying current with new formats and methods of access, thus necessitating new approaches to training and learning on the job. This paper examines the training strategy developed in response to the Data Liberation Initiative (DLI), which is a cooperative effort between Statistics Canada and post-secondary institutions in Canada. DLI provides access to a large volume of quantitative and spatial data through university libraries and is implemented and supported locally by academic librarians. We will discuss the use of peer instruction and the training principles employed to upgrade the skills of those called upon to provide these DLI-related services. The experience of Canada's Data Liberation Initiative illustrates the value of peer-to-peer training in building a national baseline level of service skills for a specific collection. This presentation is adapted from a paper presented to the 69th IFLA Conference, Berlin, August 2003. Original authors are Ernie Boyko, Statistics Canada, Elizabeth Hamilton, UNB, Chuck Humphrey, UofAlberta and Wendy Watkins, Carleton University.
Data Librarians/Archivists Should Teach Statistical Literacy as Part of Information Literacy
Milo Schield (W. M. Keck Statistical Literacy Project, Augsburg College)
Students need to be information literate. Yet if students are to evaluate information competently, they must be able to evaluate arguments using statistics as evidence; they must be statistically literate. Although statistical literacy is a popular idea, no discipline has taken responsibility for teaching such a course. This paper argues that data librarians and data archivists should take responsibility for teaching statistical literacy as a part of information literacy. Reasons are given to support this claim. This paper relates statistical literacy to information literacy, critical thinking, quantitative literacy, traditional statistics and information management. Using data professionals to teach statistical literacy is argued to be an efficient use of academic resources to achieve a mission-critical goal.
Understanding and Using Data: A Discussion of the Jargon and Trends in Quantitative Literacy
Paula Lackie (Carleton College)
This paper will provide an overview of the jargon used in the US related to quantitative literacy (i.e., numeracy, statistical literacy, spatial reasoning, etc.), as well as an overview of the various tracks institutions in the US have taken to address perceived deficits in "statistical literacy." I will also look to the audience to fill in the conversation from the perspective of our diverse membership. What can we do to facilitate communication across educational systems? What can we do to support programs already underway? Please bring your questions and/or examples from your home institutions or countries and let's work to fill in a matrix of what's happening in this important area of education. A blog on this topic has been started to facilitate continued communication during and after the conference. Please watch the IASSIST mailing list for the URL or write to plackie@carleton.edu.
2004-05-28: F1: Building an International Network of Asian Social Science Research Data
Building an International Data Network for China Studies
Shuming Bao (China Data Center, University of Michigan)
This presentation will demonstrate the China data network project at China Data Center of the University of Michigan. Issues will include the internationally collaborative data development, copyright and data licensing, data service models, a sustainable international data network for data deployment and support, and the integration of the data center functions with teaching and research.
Building an International Data Network for China Studies
Shuming Bao (China Data Center, University of Michigan)
This presentation will demonstrate the China data network project at China Data Center of the University of Michigan. Issues will include the internationally collaborative data development, copyright and data licensing, data service models, a sustainable international data network for data deployment and support, and the integration of the data center functions with teaching and research.
The Development of a Survey Data Archive in Taiwan
Alfred Ko-wei Hu (Center for Survey Research, Academia Sinica)
While survey research has a relatively long period of history in Taiwan since the late 1950s, the efforts in acquiring, maintaining and disseminating survey data in systematic ways are quite new to the social science community in Taiwan. The Center for Survey Research at Academia Sinica was established in 1994 as the most important, and the largest, national data provider for academic and quantitative research in Taiwan. In this paper, the discussion will be divided into three parts. The first part is to review the development of survey data archives in Taiwan with specific focus on the Center for Survey Research at Academia Sinica. The second part is to introduce the contents of data holdings and to describe how survey data are processed, preserved, and released to the general public in the Center for Survey Research in Taiwan. The last section in this paper will discuss the current status and future development in web applications.
2004-05-28: F2: Helping Increase Statistical Literacy at Universities: Some Perspectives
The Challenges of Integrating Data Literacy into the Curriculum in an Undergraduate Institution
Karen Hunt (University of Winnipeg)
The successful University of Winnipeg Information Literacy program operates on the premise that students develop information literacy skills and knowledge best when opportunities for learning are integrated into the subject curriculum. This paper will discuss the results of attempting to integrate data literacy into the subject curriculum in the same way. While attempting to discover what are the best practices for developing data literacy, what can be applied from the information literacy field? What is unique to learning how to discover, manipulate and interpret numeric data?
A Model for Providing Statistical Consulting Services in a University Library Setting
Daniel Edelstein (Princeton University)
Kristi Thompson (Princeton University)
Princeton University's Data and Statistical Services consultants provide both computing and statistical consulting services to users of electronic data. This paper deals only with statistical consulting, and presents the model we have evolved to serve patrons at widely varying levels of statistical literacy. The service model is in many ways similar to that of traditional library reference service, but we have adapted it to meet the unique challenges of statistical consulting. Our service fills a major gap in the way academic statistics is taught-typically a highly mathematical and/or theoretical approach that leaves students ill-prepared to usefully analyze actual data. Our role is not to teach formal statistics-we don't help them derive proofs-but to give them just the statistical knowledge they need to use the data resources provided by the library. Much like in a traditional academic library reference interview, we are trying to help our patrons find the answer to a particular research question. Our service consists of helping our patrons answer the intermediate statistical questions that arise on the way to that goal. In addition to describing our service model, we will enliven the paper with numerous (often humorous) examples drawn from actual consulting sessions. We hope to stimulate discussion with other consultants about our and alternative approaches.
The personal computer and the world-wide web have meant that, within a university setting, data and tools to manipulate it can be almost ubiquitous. Unfortunately the skills required for this manipulation are not. The establishment of the Electronic Data Resources Service (EDRS) at McGill University in 1997, meant that students and faculty were now contacting a service housed in the Library to obtain electronic numeric data. With such ease of accessibility, it was possible for professors of undergraduate courses to contemplate including the manipulation of data as part of their course work. But there is little provision for assisting the students in such courses who are not computer literate, in using the data and software both correctly and efficiently. When the Libraries were re-assigned to report, not to the Vice-Principal Academic, but to the Vice-Principal IT, the Director of Libraries began to accept an additional role for Library Services: that of a data specialist with experience in social research to be part of the EDRS.
2004-05-28: F3: Facilitating Data Access and Analysis
Delivering the World: The Establishment of an International Data Service
Susan Noble (MIMAS, Manchester Computing, University of Manchester)
In this paper we describe ESDS International, a new data service providing access to the major socio-economic databanks produced by international governmental organisations such as the World Bank and United Nations. Through the new service, these important databanks are delivered over the web, free at the point of access to the UK academic community. The paper discusses the principles behind the service, the data acquisition strategy and the establishment of licensing agreements with the data providers. The delivery software and the development of a user interface are described and we report on the challenges of converting large and complex datasets from a range of sources into a single user-friendly format. In addition to the data delivery, a pilot web-based data exploration and visualisation interface has been developed to encourage the use of the data in learning and teaching. Finally, the paper outlines the strategies and value added services employed to promote the use of these previously under-utilised databanks across a broad range of social science disciplines. Other contributors to this work are Keith Cole, Celia Russell, James Schumm, and Nick Syrotiuk.
Integrated Online Analysis: Evaluating NESSTAR and SDA
Marc Maynard (The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, University of Connecticut)
Online analysis of survey data files has been of significant interest to the Roper Center for a number of years. Integrating a data analysis system with existing finding aids would be of tremendous value to a wide variety of researchers. Dedicating resources to such an effort requires an evaluation of appropriate alternatives. This paper will present an evaluation of two current data analysis systems: NESSTAR and Survey Data Analysis (SDA). While not exhaustive in scope, this evaluation will focus on criteria pertaining to the Center's desire to integrate an exploratory analysis system with the iPOLL public opinion question databank. Evaluation criteria will include preparation of system files, system maintenance, ease of integration, performance issues and presentation features, among others.
Although data has long been an important element of social science research and instruction, the nature of social science data needs has changed dramatically in recent years. A major trend is the dramatic increase in demand for data by undergraduates for use in their own research. The number of courses that include data intensive assignments has also increased. In addition, researchers and librarians alike are recognizing the need to create electronic archives of available data. The Data Extraction Web Interface (DEWI) System is a suite of tools for the processing, preservation, and delivery of Stanford's social science numeric data collection that connects with the existing array of computing and software resources available at Stanford. DEWI provides an integrated point of service for data users, by allowing users to browse lists of variables, search for variables, and create custom subsets of data which can be downloaded to personal computers in a variety of formats compatible with popular statistical software. In this presentation, we will describe the development of DEWI, discuss how DEWI has been used within the Stanford community, and discuss some of the directions that we are exploring in the future development of DEWI.
2004-05-28: G1: New Avenues for Data Dissemination
The Dutch Social Science Question Bank
Marion Wittenberg (NIWI / Steinmetz Archive)
Helga van Gelder (NIWI / Steinmetz Archive)
The Dutch Question Bank is a project in which NIWI / Steinmetz Archive wants to establish a databank with question wordings from major studies in the Netherlands. Since the beginning of the 1960s the Steinmetz Archive collects social science datasets, in order to make them available to social scientists. Making the research instruments available, by which these data are collected, was never seen as a core business. Unlike many other archives Steinmetz Archive did not make full-scale codebooks on a regular basis, in which these research instruments were incorporated. Nowadays the questionnaires are available through the Steinmetz Archive website in PDF-format, but they are not searchable. With the Question Bank project we want to research in which way such a service can be best developed without retyping the questionnaires. At the moment we are building a pilot website on which identical questionnaires are published via three different prototypes. We are planning to organize discussion groups with Dutch social scientists in which we will evaluate the different systems. In our presentation we want to sketch our first experiences with the development of the three different prototypes.
Grid Technologies for Social Science: The SAMD Project
Celia Russell (MIMAS, Manchester Computing, University of Manchester)
Keith Cole (MIMAS, Manchester Computing, University of Manchester)
M.A.S. Jones (MIMAS, Manchester Computing, University of Manchester)
S.M. Pickles (MIMAS, Manchester Computing, University of Manchester)
M. Riding (MIMAS, Manchester Computing, University of Manchester)
K. Roy (MIMAS, Manchester Computing, University of Manchester)
The Seamless Access to Multiple Datasets (SAMD) project is designed to demonstrate the benefits of Grid (e-Science) technologies for dataset manipulation and analyses in a social science context. Grid technologies run over existing internet infrastructures and offer a faster alternative to the world wide web for the transfer and analysis of large datasets. Under the SAMD project, a web-delivered social science dataset was made available for large-scale data analysis through a Grid architecture. Using an exemplar problem drawn from the UK social science community, the project demonstrates how the integration of a single sign-on environment, Grid technologies and access to high performance computational resources can significantly speed up computationally intensive queries and streamline data gathering and analysis. The approach used can be generalised to virtually any kind of problem involving data retrieval and analysis, and the paper also discusses how this could allow social scientists to significantly scale up their quantitative research questions. Other contributors to this work are Keith Cole, M. A.S. Jones, S.M. Pickles, M. Riding, K. Roy, and M. Sensier.
MADIERA: A European Infrastructure for Web-based Data Dissemination: An Overview
Atle Alvheim (Norwegian Social Science Data Services)
MADIERA (Multilingual Access to Data Infrastructures of the European Research Area) is a EU-funded project. The consortium consisting of eight European partners aims at establishing a web portal for social science data, based on the DDI and extensions to the existing Nesstar technology. New features include tools for multilingual support, logic for identifying comparable datasets, a system for geo-referencing of datasets, options for users to add their comments to datasets, links to scientific reports, etc. Within November 2005 the project will establish a web portal where datasets from all the European Social Science Data Archives will be present. Furthermore, the aim is to extend the portal beyond this group of data providers. This presentation will provide a general introduction to the project, focusing in particular on practical problems of integrating data across several national archives, limits of the DDI, politics of data access, harmonising categories, etc. For more information see www.madiera.net.
2004-05-28: G2: Three Studies with Numeric and Geospatial Data in Asia - the Case of China, Vietnam and Korea
Historical Geodata for Pre-Modern China - A Case Study of the CHGIS Project
The China Historical GIS (CHGIS) has been developing a base GIS framework of all the recorded administrative divisions for dynastic China, from the unification of the first Chinese Empire (222 BCE) to the fall of the last Dynasty (1911 CE). The CHGIS project is not producing or incorporating historical statistics for these administrative units, but is specifically focused on the more fundamental matter of compiling all administrative units into a single geospatial database. Each unique historical unit is defined with: a date range, a place name, a feature type, a source citation, a relationship to its parent jurisdiction, and an associated spatial object in GIS. The CHGIS project developed a relational data model for keeping track of historical places and documented sources as they changed over time. Many technical hurdles and system integration issues had to be dealt with, including: developing a search engine for the Web with guide maps, defining spatial objects for ancient places, system integration of multilingual datasets, and testing semantic interoperability between feature type thesauri. We hope that our experiences and the CHGIS datasets themselves will be of interest to everyone dealing with digital sources of historical geographic information. We also welcome collaboration in the development of application methods that can be used together with our base GIS framework.
Report on the Recent Stay as a Fulbright Scholar in Vietnam
Daniel Tsang (University of California-Irvine)
As Vietnam seeks membership in the World Trade Organization, many studies have been conducted of its economy and society. I will report on my recent stay in the country as a Fulbright scholar researching social science data collections and their availability, and national efforts to improve its statistical infrastructure.
Quantitative and Geospatial Social Science Data in Korea
Mary J. Lee (Laboratory for Social Research, University of Notre Dame)
This presentation will examine the infrastructure and feasibility of the Korean quantitative and geospatial data.
2004-05-28: G3: Enhancing the Research Experience for Data Users
Pointers for Secondary Analysis of Public Opinion Data
Lois Timms-Ferrara (The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, University of Connecticut)
Polling data are everywhere. During a presidential election in the United States polls take on a life of their own. For a full 10 months each daily newspaper cites at least one new survey. How do you tell good polls from bad? What are some of the analytical tools that need to be considered of when examining the mountains of available data? How does one design a research question? These questions can confuse anyone. How can we as social science information professionals help? This paper explores some "suggestions" for doing sound secondary opinion research. From the basic questions of sampling, error, and reading tables, to the more sophisticated concerns of question and data interpretation and statistical tests, this presentation will provide helpful pointers to assist the novice and seasoned researcher. The paper will call attention to various sources of assistance for data exploration, locating relevant information, assessing its value, and presenting the information in a clear and concise manner. Using Roper Center data and metadata, this presentation will offer illustrated examples of how to best utilize Center resources and other sources for the secondary analysis of polls.
Reconceptualizing Statistical Abstracts in the 21st Century: An Empirical Study of the Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics
Carol Hert (Syracuse University)
Lydia Harris (University of Washington)
Statistical abstracts have always formed a core source of statistical information for a wide variety of users. The increasing technological capabilities of online media has led to an interest in understanding how statistical abstracts might be adapted or transformed in the age of the Web. This paper reports on a study in which the Delphi technique was used to develop a consensus among a set of experts on the future of one particular abstract: Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics. Participant input was used to generate a mission statement for the Sourcebook and a prioritized list of requirements for accomplishing the mission. The findings indicate a continuing role for the statistical abstract but one that can better utilize technologies to create more personalized statistical displays as well as enhanced access to additional sources. Acknowledgements: This study was funded by the United States Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Research in ICTs and Political Behavior: What We Know and Don't Know About Technology and Political Life
Alice Robbin (Indiana University Bloomington)
Christina Courtright (Indiana University Bloomington)
Leah Davis (Indiana University Bloomington)
A wide range of studies in political science, sociology, communication, cognitive and social psychology, library and information science, and other disciplines have been conducted for more than half a century on various aspects of user behavior related to the use of new technologies. This research has led to significant progress in the technical and computational aspects of information storage, retrieval and use, the development of a global information infrastructure, and the usability of products and services. More recently, research has focused on the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and political life. This paper evaluates the status of this empirical research. We find that, with notable exceptions, research on e-government, e-governance, and e-democracy has not avoided and, indeed, struggles with well-known conceptual, theoretical and methodological problems that contribute to a lack of robust empirical evidence to support claims that political life has been altered by ICTs. It may well be that some of these problems defy solutions; however, we remain optimistic and conclude by offering suggestions for improving the quality of research data on the relationship between ICTs and political behavior.
