A Tour of Statistics Canada’s Website: 30 Tips in 30 Minutes

1. A Tour of Statistics Canada’s Website:30 Tips in 30 Minutes DLI Ontario Training April 11, 2005 Vicki Crompton

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

3. Statistics Canada’s Websitewww.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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. Tip #8 Finding Census Information Census > Data > Populationand Dwelling Counts 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, CAs, CMA and CA Influenced Zones (MIZ), and Territories • Provides definitions for all these terms, as well as population estimates

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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 1970s • 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

19. 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

20. 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”

21. 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

22. 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.

23. Tip #20 Searching the Site • 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 use • Links to free electronic resources • Great place to find history of publications (which publication replaced which, etc.) BiblioCathttp://biblionet.statcan.ca/

24. Tip #21 Searching the Site Historical Statistics of Canada11-516-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-1970s • Electronic version is accessible as a free downloadable document (by chapter) • PDF or HTML versions available

25. Tip #22 Searching the Site Statistics CanadaThesaurus • 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 After selecting your term from the results page, you can choose to search the Online Catalogue, Website or BiblioCat directly

26. 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

27. 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

28. Tip #25 Finding Educational Resources Learning Resources • Aim is to strengthen the statistical literacy levels of students in the elementary, secondary and post-secondary 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

29. 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

30. 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

31. 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

32. 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/

33. 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

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