A Tour of Statistics Canadas Website 30 Tips

A Tour of Statistics Canada’s Website: 30 Tips in 30 Minutes DLI Atlantic Training April 2005

Outline of today’s presentation • Finding basic statistical information • Finding Census information • Finding business information • Searching the site • Educational Resources

Statistics Canada’s Website www. statcan. ca • • Launched February 1995 120, 000 HTML pages 37, 000 PDF documents Bilingual and accessible Updated daily 270, 000+ hits per day A virtual library of all information about and from Statistics Canada

Tip #1 Finding Basic Statistical Information Canadian Statistics • Recommended as first place to search if you or your patrons are new to the site • Presents a selection of free summary tables on the most popular subjects • Provides categories for browsing under four main “pillars” • Has its own keyword search engine • Popular links, including Canada at a Glance

Tip #2 Finding Basic Statistical Information Canada e-Book • Complements Canadian Statistics tables with text, articles derived from the Canada Year Book • Provides browsing through a drop-down menu on the left of the page • Provides additional charts, pictures and audio clips which are unique to the site

Tip #3 Finding Basic Statistical Information The Daily • Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin • Access to previous issues back to 1996 by date • Links to additional information - free or priced publications, concepts and definitions • Has its own search tool • Free subscription to The Daily’s e-mail service

Tip #4 Finding Basic Statistical Information Upcoming and past releases • In The Daily module, there are two buttons on the left side navigational bar which provide users the dates of: – Recently released products – Upcoming release dates

Tip #5 Finding Basic Statistical Information Browse by Subject • Provides a subject directory if patrons prefer browsing to find information • Uses the four main pillars – The Economy, The Land, The People and The Nation • Enhanced version of subject directory underway

Tip #6 Finding Basic Statistical Information Community Profiles • Presents 2001 Census information and health indicators by various cities, regions and Indian reserves • Provides free statistics relevant to that community – population, education, income, religion, health and more • Provides maps of the community

Tip #7 Finding Census Information Census: Main Page • Offers population and dwelling counts for Canada, provinces, territories and smaller geographic areas • Search by topic or geography • Provides Census data according to federal electoral district

Tip #8 Finding Census Information Census > Data > Population and Dwelling Counts available by: • • • Canada, Provinces and Territories Census Divisions (CDs) Census Subdivisions (CSDs) Municipalities Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs), Census Agglomerations (CAs) Urban Areas (UAs) Federal Electoral Districts (FEDs) Urban and Rural Forward Sortation Areas (FSAs) Statistical Area Classification (SAC) CMAs, CMA and CA Influenced Zones (MIZ), and Territories Provides definitions for all these terms, as well as population estimates

Tip #9 Finding Census Information Census > Data > Highlight Tables • Ordered by date of official of release, at various levels of geography • Presents a selection of information highlights (age, language, ethnicity, commuting, etc. ) • Allows users to perform simple rank and sort functions • A symbol indicates a revision in that table

Tip #10 Finding Census Information Census > Data > Topic Basic Tabulations • Series of tables based on groups of variables on related subjects – i. e. marital status by sex and age for provinces and CMAs • Available for various levels of geography • Some tables provide an overview; others consist of three or four cross-tabulated variables • Look at the “search for census variable” link to see which variables are available

Tip #11 Finding Census Information Census of Agriculture • Wide range of data provides a comprehensive picture of the Canadian agriculture industry • Links to Census of Population to give socio-economic portrait of farm operators and their families and households • Seven major subject areas offers ease of browsing • “All releases” gives a list of what free and priced products are available

Tip #12 Finding Business Information Business Data • Brings together free business data in one location such as market characteristics, industry data, trends in employment/income and trade data • Links to the Top 10 Business Products • Offers a comprehensive list of resources arranged by business topic • A FAQ page describes commonly used terminology

Tip #13 Finding Business Information Latest Economic Indicators • In The Daily module, you will see this left-hand navigational bar • Click to see the most recent Labour Force Survey, Consumer Price Index, or other economic indicator (GDP, trade, prices, etc. ) • The front page of the Statistics Canada website also provides the most recent economic indicators in table form

Tip #14 Finding Business Information Infomat • • • Online weekly digest of Statistics Canada's latest news releases Articles analyze trends and provide perspective on the latest social and economic data Weekly feature Spotlight takes an in-depth look at issues, such as technology, health, education and the labour market. For more detailed information, users can link to The Daily and many other publications By yearly subscription only For key economic indicators, provides charts of current trends and international comparisons

Tip #15 Finding Business Information CANSIM • • • Contains more than 18 million time series covering almost all economic and social series Is available on a fee-for-service basis Begins coverage as far back as 1914, but most data start in the 1970 s Includes pricing information, a users guide, a FAQ, a Newsflash page (releases, updates, and revisions) and a table directory Offers searching by subject, table number, series number or survey number

Tip #16 Searching the Site Online Catalogue of Products and Services • Gain access through Our products and services > Search the online catalogue • Offers more than 6, 500 current publications and research papers, both print and electronic • Gives product and service descriptions, prices if applicable and downloading options • Limit search by price, by DSP and/or DLI

Tip #17 Searching the Site Online Catalogue of Products and Services • Search parameters – Include or exclude words or phrases – Choose time period/date – Search fields: body, title, abstract, subject, keywords, author, catalogue number, ISBN/ISSN number • Result list – Show summaries or hide them – Sort by date within results – Search further within results – supports Google Math and “phrases in double quotations”

Tip #18 Searching the Site Website search • Explores text on the website itself • Provides information on the website but NOT produced as a publication – i. e. Canada Quiz is a web-based tool that challenges users on their knowledge of Canadian statistics. It would be found here and not on the Catalogue of Products and Services • Search both site and Products and Services to find information … sometimes a web page provides a pointer to the data required

Tip #19 Searching the Site • Other quick tips on searching: – Dates listed on both the Online Catalogue and Website search are the “last updated” date, not the date of publication or release. Need to look at the data/publication itself to determine the relevant dates. – Use the “About definitions, data sources and methods” page to find metadata on surveys to determine • Definitions of variables and description of their classification schemes • Descriptions of methodology used in collecting, processing and analysing the data • Information on the accuracy of the data – Avoid using UPPER CASE – an exact case match will be employed • i. e. a query for canadian will find matches for Canadian, canadian, and CANADIAN, whereas a query for CANADIAN will only match CANADIAN.

Tip #20 Searching the Site Biblio. Cat http: //biblionet. statcan. ca/ • Online catalogue for the Statistics Canada Library, the main repository for all of Statistics Canada published output • Print collection available through ILL and in-house • Links to free electronic resources • Great place to find history of publications (which publication replaced which, etc. )

Tip #21 Searching the Site Historical Statistics of Canada 11 -516 -XIE • Reflects second edition jointly produced by the Social Science Federation of Canada and Statistics Canada in 1983 • Contains more than 1, 000 statistical tables on the social, economic and institutional conditions of Canada from Confederation in 1867 to the mid-1970 s • Electronic version is accessible as a free downloadable document (by chapter) • PDF or HTML versions available

Tip #22 Searching the Site Statistics Canada Thesaurus After selecting your term from the results page, you can choose to search the Online Catalogue, Website or Biblio. Cat directly • Provides subject access to Statistics Canada's information resources • Is a bilingual, fully structured, indexing and information retrieval tool • Conforms to internationally accepted standards and conventions for thesaurus construction • Consists of descriptors and non-descriptors, accompanied by their hierarchical, associative and prescriptive relationships

Tip #23 Searching the Site Browse Free or Fee-based Publications • Click on “Our products and Services” • Under Browse our Internet publications, click on “Free or For Sale” • Browse by Subject • Publication prices are also provided through the Online Catalogue

Tip #24 Searching the Site Need Help? • Help page provides information on searching the site, additional search tips and information on accessibility • Help is also available within specific products (i. e. CANSIM) • Animated tutorials

Tip #25 Finding Educational Resources Learning Resources • Aim is to strengthen the statistical literacy levels of students in the elementary, secondary and postsecondary level • Educational materials provide structured activities for individual or group use • Teaching tools and lesson plans are offered for educators and teacher librarians • An excellent glossary of statistical terms in plain language is provided

Tip #26 Finding Educational Resources E-STAT • Provides an interactive learning tool especially for the education community • Offers data complemented by explanatory text • More than 2, 000 data tables and 25 million time series are provided, updated annually • Access is by school registration only; a list of registered schools are provided • Ask-an-expert service provides help in understanding the data

Tip #27 Finding Educational Resources Data Liberation Initiative • Provides unlimited access to numerous Statistics Canada public use microdata files, databases and geographic files • For licensed post-secondary institutions (annual subscription fee) • Offers affordable and equitable access to academic researchers and students to the most current statistics and other data

Tip #28 Finding Educational Resources Research Data Centres • Initiative by Statistics Canada, the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and university consortia • Provides researchers with access, in a secure university setting, to microdata from population and household surveys • Statistics Canada employees staff these centres • Located throughout the country so that researchers may have local access

Tip #29 General Information Other Links • Offers: – Links to Provincial/Territorial Statistical Offices – Links to other National Statistics Offices – Links to other Government of Canada departments of agencies who create statistics – Other key sites of note • For key economic events and timelines, visit Canadian Economy Online at: http: //www. canadianeconomy. gc. ca/

Tip #30 General Information Regional Reference Centers • • • Provides an information dissemination network across the country through eight Regional Reference Centres Customizes and delivers data packages tailored to specific needs Facilitates and serves as your direct link to Statistics Canada researchers, analysts and technical experts

Feedback! • Your feedback on how to improve access to the website is always appreciated • Email: infostats@statcan. ca Thank you very much!