mike sivyer accoleds training, december 8, 2003. calgary, december 2003 u p l o a d s r e l o a d s...

Mike SivyerACCOLEDS Training, December 8, 2003

CALGARY, DECEMBER 2003

U P L O A D S

R E L O A D S

D O W N L O A D S

D L I UPDATE 2 0 0 3

DLI NATIONAL TRAINING DAY

In June a DLI National Training Day was held in Ottawa in conjunction with CAPDU and IASSIST

DLI provided financial assistance to help members from DLI institutions to attend

About 50% of DLI institutions sent at least one person – some sent more

All regions were represented


Sessions were held in English and French

From feedback received this national workshop can be considered as a great success

We will probably do this again in the future

More about this when Sage presents the report from the National Education Committee


Some important aspects of this workshop include:

Members from different regions were able to meet and mix with members from other regions

They were able to see that somewhere someone else was at the same level of data/statistical literacy with the same problems as them

As well, a number of DLI members stayed on to attend IASSIST – some for the first time


Chad Gadfield, Director of the Institute of Canadian Studies, University of Ottawa held a reception for CAPDU/DLI members

DLI FINANCIAL SITUATION

As mentioned last year, we began our new invoicing procedures whereby all members receive their invoice during April – May

This change over went very smoothly with very few concerns expressed

This will help us better monitor our financial situation

DLI FINANCIAL SITUATION

The last financial review was done for the October EAC meeting.

At that time it was reported that the program is in a better financial situation that was suspected 18 – 20 months ago

Unless something drastic occurs there should no need to increase revenues (i.e. member fees) for at least another 24 months

DLI COLLECTION

We have continued to add files to our Collection

We now have over close to 20,000 files in the Collection – includes data and metadata

Over the past year we have added numerous Census files

DLI COLLECTION

We add the Census files as soon as we get them, however this is not always as fast as some of our members would like

We have to wait our turn for Census to produce our files via special runs

Some of the tables we are supposed to receive are quite large and take a long time to produce

DLI COLLECTION

In 2002 the number of FTP downloads was 42,360+

As of October 2003 the number of downloads is over 42,000

This is probably due to the increase in Census downloads

DLI COLLECTION

Since 1995 there have been well over 251,000 FTP downloads

This is not an complete picture of downloads due as a number of institutions belong to consortiums where a file is downloaded once from DLI and placed in a regional/local server

DLI COLLECTION

We are attempting to decrease the number of hardcopy products (CDs & paper metadata) that we disseminate

If we can place a CD product on the FTP we will , especially if the author division provides us with just one copy

We are also in the process of scanning in all of our paper products (metadata) and making them available on the site as PDF files

DLI COLLECTION

We have just completed scanning in all the documentation for the Survey of Consumer Finance

This is cheaper than photocopying or burning hardcopy versions and them mailing and will save us money in the long run

If members still want us to replicate and mail a hardcopy version we will – but this will eventually have an impact on the budget

DLI MEMBERSHIP

Earlier this year we received notice that two members had decided to withdraw:Université du Québec en Abitibi-

Témiscamingue Red Deer College

Discussion with these two institutions were held by the EAC member in the respective regions to determine if they could be convinced to remain in the program

DLI MEMBERSHIP

Unfortunately the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue did not change their mind BUT Red Deer College did

There are now 65 member institutions in the DLI program

When a member leaves the program there are a number of consequences

DLI MEMBERSHIP

All use of data and files obtained through the program must stop

All data and files must be returned or destroyed or new licences must be obtained

New licences could also involve additional costs

They also lose access to level 2 data on the Census web site

DLI MEMBERSHIP

We have had some enquires from other institutions about joining the DLI Program

Our normal response is to request that these institutions first check out our web site to learn about our licence and our collection

We also ask that they check out E-STAT to see if this will suit their data needs

CHANGES TO EAC

According to our Governance guidelines three positions on the External Advisory Committee were up for renewal

A request was sent out via DLILIST for nominations - - The response was overwhelming!

As a result the following members have been re-named to continue for an additional term:

CHANGES TO EAC

Barbara Znamirowski from Trent University

Mary MacLeod from Acadia University

Chuck Humphrey from University of Alberta

Another change to the EAC was that Gaetan Drolet of Université Laval announced his retirement

CHANGES TO EAC

This event made us realize that due to our current structure there would be 100% turnover of EAC member for the Quebec Region

As a result it was agreed that the structure of the EAC would be changed so that each region would be represented by two members

In this way only one regional position would come up for renewal at any one time

CHANGES TO EAC

As well we would still retain the two other academic positions of: a representative from the research

community (currently Chad Gadfiled from University of Ottawa)

and one from the library director community (currently Mark Legott from University of Winnipeg)

At the next EAC meeting (spring 2004) the structure of the terms will be reviewed

CHANGES TO EAC

Current Academic EAC members are:

Atlantic Region:Elizabeth Hamiliton - UNBMary MacLeod – Acadia

Quebec Region:Richard Boily - Université du Québec à Rimouski

Guy Julian – Université Laval

CHANGES TO EAC

Ontario RegionWendy Watkins – Carleton UniversityBarbara Znamirowski – Trent University

West RegionChuck Humphrey – University of Alberta

Walter Piovesan – Simon Fraser University

TRAINING CO-ORDINATOR CHANGES Another critical retirement is from our

group of Regional Training Co-ordinators

Jerry Bull from Universitè de Montrèal will retire this December

Jerry and Gaetan were the DLI Regional Training Co-ordinators for Quebec

Again Sage will cover this and other changes tomorrow

CHANGES TO DLI AT STC

As reported last year Christiane Rousseau did retire as of the end of October 2003

Her duties will be assumed by Anne Chartrand

Marie-Josée Bourgeois has joined the Section for a year to work full time on the web pages


Although last year I stated that Ernie Boyko would be retiring in June of 2003 he surprised all of us and stayed on

This year he has informed me that I can announce that it is his intention now to retire in June of 2004

Must be true as he has started to clean out his office


This fall we finally released our “new look” web pages and we have received favourable comments on the changes

We will be looking at all pages and making minor adjustments where required

If anyone has any suggestions as to content changes please let us know

DLI & RDC:A CONTINUUM RELATIONSHIP

The DLI and the RDCs are two different points along the continuum of data access

There are some commonalities and overlaps within both Programs

Gustave Goldman, Director of the RDC program, was invited to the October EAC meeting to discuss how we could best work together


One area that we have in common, and where we could benefit from working together, is in the area of METRICS

It is recognized that officially measuring and documenting data access and use is essential in order to demonstrate and maintain the viability of both programs

DLI & RDC: A CONTINUUM RELATIONSHIP

For RDCs metrics is closely linked to continued funding for the program

In the case of DLI metrics, i.e. feedback to producing divisions, is linked to their continued willingness to provide DLI with data files


We have agreed to work together to see if we can develop and implement procedures and techniques that will gather the information required by both programs

Another reason to work together on this is that collecting this information could take more resources than is available from each program individually


We have also agreed that TRAINING is another area where we may be able to work together

It is felt that DLI members could benefit from learning what happens at the RDCs esp. with regard to confidentiality rules and guidelines


As well RDCs reps could benefit from the type of training that we provide to our DLI Contacts

As a result, whenever feasible, someone from the local RDC will be invited to participate in Regional Training Workshops


To help strengthen the bridges between the two programs we have also decided to have representatives sit on each others committees

Raymond Currie has been named as the RDC representative on our External Advisory Committee

Wendy Watkins will sit as the DLI rep on the RDC National Co-ordinating Committee

OTHER NEW DEVELOPMENTS

Stats Canada’a home page has had some minor changes

For example the sidebar has had some wording changes

Of interest to DLI members will be the: Definitions, Data Sources and Methods link The Studies link

OTHER NEW DEVELOPMENTS A number of cash prizes and awards from

Stats Canada, often in conjunction with other agencies, are listed in the Learning Resources pages under Postsecondary

Prizes for Students in Education$500 prize for the best curriculum

project$2,000 each for up to 5 educational

research proposals using STC data $500 for best foundations paper by a

pre-service education student


Prize for Students in Geography/Native Studies$700 to a graduate student in

geography or native studies for the best Master's or PhD thesis on an aboriginal topic.

OTHER NEW DEVELOPMENTS Prize for Students in Geography/

Environmental Studies $750 to an undergraduate student in

geography and/or environmental studies for the best paper examining impacts of human activity on Canada's environment

Students in Statistical Survey Methods $200 for best paper in survey

methods


A new program to help in determining quality of estimates

Many polls that appear in the news provide data quality guidelines like:“These estimates are reliably within

plus or minus 3% - 19 times out of 20”

For Stats Canada - determining quality of estimates retrieved from public use microdata files is done using Coefficients of Variation (CV) look up tables


These CV tables are found in the User Guides that accompany the public file

This is a very complex process that should be done before any estimates are published

The following excerpts from the User’ s Guide for the Adult Education and Training Survey 1998 shown some of the process that users are expected to go through


I will now demonstrate a new program being developed by a project team within Special Surveys Division that makes finding the CV of estimates much easier

If this is proves to be acceptable to users we will encourage other project teams within the division to also produce CV tables in this format

mike sivyer accoleds training, december 8, 2003. calgary, december 2003 u p l o a d s r e l o a d s...

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