Guest blog post: Data dissemination initiatives from Statistics Canada, by Aspi Balsara, government documents librarian.

Canadians working with statistical and research data include government documents librarians whom we find in most university research libraries.  Many government document librarians and their colleagues, the data librarians, participate in the Data Liberation Initiative (DLI) which I introduced in a post honouring one of its founders.  They are also often members of the Canadian Association of Public Data Users (CAPDU) among many other important data related organizations.  The DLI also does much capacity building for research, data and map librarians in yearly face to face meetings and online discussion, developing expertise which is then shared among colleagues in their home institutions.

Aspi Balsara is one of the government documents librarians at the Queen Elizabeth II Library, Memorial University of Newfoundland.  He is a CAPDU member and has been kind enough to share his latest FAQ about various initiatives to disseminate Statistics Canada data.  The post is technical and specific in nature, but demonstrates quite nicely the kind of expertise we have across Canada in this area, a knowledge base that is often overlooked.  The FAQ introduces many databases and formats while also answering new dissemination policy questions.

Finally, this post also introduces a data community of practice with experts who collaborate nationally to benefit their local users using LISTSERVs technology, which ain’t fancy, but sure is effective in a place like Canada with its smart people scattered all over a big geographical expanse.  Twitter does some things well, but these lists and their archives are invaluable in fostering near real time deep collaboration.  People get to meet face to face once a year thanks to the DLI, so the relationships are quite strong.

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 FAQ on various dissemination initiatives from Statistics Canada,

by Aspi Balsara, Feb 14, 2012 (Note this FAQ will be updated as required)

1.      Are all the Public Use Microdata Files (PUMFs) listed on the DLI webpage available to the public, or only some of them?  (http://www.statcan.gc.ca/cgi-bin/spider/dli.cgi)

All PUMFs are available, free of charge.  This has been the case for the past year and a  half.

 2.      How does the public access and order the free PUMFs? 

The public can order them directly from the Statistics Canada homepage, using the Search the site feature.  (Remember to select the “all” button before submitting the search.)   The customer is first required to sign a licence agreement.  Upon receipt, the data is put on CD-ROM and shipped.

3.      Do these freely available PUMFs include SPSS and SAS command files (as they do for DLI subscribers)?

The codes are generally available in SAS which is what Statistics Canada (SC) uses.  SPSS is used mainly by the academic sector. SPSS may be available sometimes, but when derived from SAS, its quality is questionable as it does not include “missing values”.    Eventually, through the Common Tool for Social Surveys, SC will have more standardized output, including good SPSS codes.

4.      What value added service (that we enjoy as DLI subscribers) does the general public not receive when it orders a PUMF?  

Revenue from DLI subscriptions pays for the infrastructure, regional and national training for the DLI contacts, prompt support through the listserv, and other initiatives.   No money goes toward paying for the data. This has been emphasized at the DLI training “bootcamps” where DLI contacts are asked to convey to their library administration the value of the training and support available from the DLI.   This is also pointed out in the DLI annual reports.

5.      In November 2010, Statistics Canada announced its intention to launch a subscription service to all its PUMFs.   This service was targeted to non-Canadian subscribers for an annual fee of $5000.00.   Is there any information about it?

This service aims at national and international organizations outside the DLI who wish to access SC’s complete PUMF collection, be informed of new releases, and avail of a service that answers their queries.  This service is called the “Public Use Microdata File (PUMF) Collection”.  

6.      With free CANSIM (Statistics Canada’s online database and retrieval system) access beginning February 1, 2012, will the CANSIM component in E-Stat continue to be provided?    If so, will it be updated more than just once a year?

Statistics Canada will release a communiqué at which point this FAQ will be updated.

7.      Is it just the CANSIM data that will be freely available as of February 1, 2012, or all of Statistics Canada’s data?

In addition to CANSIM, select census data products for 2011 will be freely available.  Statistics Canada will maintain current pricing practices for print publications, maps, CD-ROMs and custom products and services.  

8.      Are the geography products also freely available?

As of November 29, 2011, geography data from the 2006 and 2011 censuses are available free of charge except for postal code products since they are provided by Canada Post.

9.      Our library webpage provides two links each to the Statistics Canada websites for the 2001 & 2006 census, and the SC homepage.  One website is proxy protected/restricted to Memorial University users, and the other, which is publicly available, is not.   The proxy protected site used to allow access to B2020 tables whereas the latter did not (since Statistics Canada did not permit B2020 tables to be publicly available).   However, both sites now contain links to B2020 tables.   So may we conclude there is no longer any difference between what Memorial users can access versus what the public can access?   Here is our library page to which I am referring . 

The following Statistics Canada page indicates that the restrictions described above no longer apply, and hence, the duplication (of restricted and unrestricted access) is no longer necessary.   However, on contacting the general Statistics Canada number in Ottawa, I was advised to retain both the restricted and unrestricted links to their websites since the proxy protected sites might contain more historical information than the publicly available ones.

10.  Does the public have to pay for FSA (Forward Sortation Area), DA (Dissemination Area) and Block level data (except for basic population and dwelling counts)?

Data for DAs – for 2011 and previous census years – are now available for free upon request.  This is why you will see a “contact us” link for census tables at the DA level (whereas previously there was a $ sign since these tables were not freely available).  Block level data is available at the population and dwelling count level from GeoSearch or GeoSuite, and there is no charge. Charges apply to any product containing postal codes, such as FSAs or Postal Code Conversion Files (PCCFs).

11.  The DLI licence terms will soon be reviewed, possibly allowing commercial use of the data whereas previously its use was restricted to educational and research purposes.   When is this change due to occur?  

The DLI licence will be discussed at the DLI’s External Advisory Committee meeting on April 3 & 4, so stay tuned.