New Services for Users Enhanced User Support and Enhanced Access to Data Angela Dale, Head ESDS Government Melanie Wright, Head ESDS Access & Preservation Keith Cole, Head ESDS International Louise Corti, Head ESDS Qualidata/ Outreach & Training

Enhanced User Support Angela Dale, Head ESDS Government

Enhanced user support ESDS provides user support and training for an extensive range of economic and social data data spanning many disciplines and themes support for the secondary use of data for research, learning and teaching special focus on four substantive areas: –large-scale government surveys –longitudinal data –international data –qualitative data

Supporting research and teaching service specific help for each service –help desk, FAQs, analysis support value-added data and documentation –easier routes through complex documentation –derived variables to provide consistency over time, working with users and producers generating new researchers –series of workshops around the country teaching datasets, online samplers discussion lists, newsletters

Training programme introductory and getting started courses topic-based or thematic courses specific datasets, data series, particular data types support software packages analysis - basic and more advanced weighting analysing hierarchical data analysing longitudinal and qualitative data methodological issues train the trainers workshops

Outreach activities Promoting and supporting research ESDS events –data creation and depositing –awareness days for new users –thematic data resources Linking ESDS resources –eg, government surveys and longitudinal data Joint events with other organisations –ESRC Research Methods programme –Data producers (e.g. ONS) and data series user groups –CAQDAS networking project –Statistics User Groups –Other ESRC/JISC investments

ESDS Government Based on substantive themes –Year 1: Employment and labour market –Year 2: Health –Year 3: Social exclusion Highlighting research value –workshops on new opportunities, e.g. data linkage, synthetic estimation –links with Methods Programme, Census Programme Regular meeting between users and producers –Health Surveys meeting, July 11 –Labour Force Survey, October 21 Annual research conference –Social and demographic change, December 2003

ESDS Longitudinal ESDS Longitudinal will help users to investigate and use the datasets by: creating sampler files in Nesstar to facilitate the exploration of the content of the data providing access to enhanced documentation, and tools for data subsetting and matching improving information on weighting, missing data and statistical adjustments allowing researchers to make use of confidential data, especially geo-coded data, without prejudicing the confidentiality of those respondents

Enhanced Access to Data Melanie Wright, Head ESDS Access & Preservation Keith Cole, Head ESDS International Louise Corti, Head ESDS Qualidata/ Outreach & Training

Enhanced access to data one-stop registration and Athens enhanced data delivery: Download Now service enhanced data delivery: Nesstar II enhanced data delivery: ESDS International enhanced data delivery: ESDS Qualidata

One-stop registration important part of ESRCs goal of establishing a common entry point for all socio-economic data system currently encompasses –ESDS International –Census Dissemination Unit –Census Geography Data Unit (UKBORDERS) –Census Interaction Data Service –Sample of Anonymised Records system will soon include –all of ESDS –CHCC Historical Census Collection

One-stop registration benefits of integrated system –efficient –co-ordinated –user-friendly –flexible extension of the Census Registration Service –CRS launched August 2002 after 9 months intensive consultation and testing –ESDS International registration beta testing June 2003, very positive user feedback

Enhanced data delivery and access: Download Now all new and updated datasets to be made available for instant download (where license agreements permit) back catalogue to be mounted as and when resources permit choice of software format, bundled with user guides and dataset documentation

Enhanced data delivery and access : Nesstar II online data browsing, analysis, subsetting and download in variety of popular formats creation of graphs/charts/tables with export to popular formats, or bookmarking for hyperlinking from documents vastly improved metadata handling, window display and faster performance access control improvements available for most popular series, particularly government data : 66 studies and growing

Enhanced data delivery and access: ESDS International led by MIMAS at Manchester with support from UKDA at Essex provides access and support for a range of international datasets – both macro and micro sources promotes and facilitates increased and more effective use of international datasets in research, learning and teaching across a range of disciplines

Why is international data important? because we live in a increasingly globalised world where access to high quality, regularly updated international datasets is required to support evidence based research across a range of topics (e.g world economic development, quality of life … )

International macro data portfolio initial portfolio built around selected major international statistical databanks that collectively chart over 50 years of global economic, industrial and political change additional databanks to be acquired to extend coverage across a more diverse range of topics (e.g. human development indicators) the data originate from: –the International Monetary Fund –the OECD –the United Nations –the World Bank –Eurostat –the International Labour Organisation –the UK Office for National Statistics

Data Access via ESDS International web-based access to regularly updated macro- economic time series datasets via Beyond 20/20 help users to locate and acquire international micro- level datasets, such as Eurobarometer or ISSP use CommonGIS software to build an interactive web- based data exploration and visualisation interface to key international macro statistics develop key time series for alternative classifications of countries, such as highly indebted countries

Beyond 20/20 workbook and on-line help available

Using CommonGIS to visualise migration patterns in Europe

Enhanced data delivery and access: ESDS Qualidata providing direct access to digital collection content –supports more powerful resource discovery –access to content and structure coded textual data links to audio files, fieldnotes, photos, analytical annotations, etc links to other sources: micro data, aggregate statistics, maps, census data, etc providing access to qualitative data via common interface supporting tools for searching, retrieval, analysis across different datasets The Edwardians Online Pilot

Why enhanced access needed? archived qualitative data under used users find it difficult to obtain or access relevant material: –problems locating data in appropriate format e.g. paper –no time to travel to dispersed archives –inadequate information about the content of data using current resource discovery tools

Edwardians Online creation of a digital multimedia resource that integrates a wealth of existing primary and secondary materials: a catalogue of 444 interview summaries 5 full electronic interview transcripts thematic browsing of interview transcripts a collection of digital sound clips a set of contextual images of Edwardian life background information and press reviews on the original study details of publications based upon secondary studies of the collection an account of the digitization methodology

Qualidata Online online querying function based on annotation of texts and themes in XML search interview summaries database search or browse by theme from list - retrieve extracts of text in particular documents coded by that theme jump from extract to view in full document context and navigate between extracts in a theme link to other data documents, images etc. further developments: –develop tools sets for publishing and querying data –define preservation/portable format for coded qualitative data (import/export from CAQDAS packages)