A call to librarians to use their library powers in the community beyond the walls of their institutions as the open data folks need their knowledge! Title: Open Sesame: Open Data, Data Liberation and New Opportunities for Libraries Abstract: Cities and data producers are quickly embracing Open Data, albeit unevenly. The Data Liberation Initiative (DLI) has been a pioneer in broadening access to data for nearly two decades. This session will examine the relevance of Data Liberation in terms of Open Data and explore how librarians can step up to the plate to make Open Data/Open Government as successful as DLI. Speakers: - Wendy Watkins, Data Librarian, Carleton University - Ernie Boyko, Adjunct Data Librarian, Carleton University - Tracey P. Lauriault, Post Doctoral Fellow, Carleton University (tlauriau@gmail.com) - Margaret Haines, University Librarian, Carleton University

1. Open Sesame: Open Data, Data
Liberation and New
Opportunities for Libraries
CLA 2012
Margaret Haines, Wendy Watkins,
Ernie Boyko, Tracey P. Lauriault
June 1st, 1:30 Session E37
RM 205, Ottawa Convention Centre

2. Introductions
CLA 2012
Margaret Haines
June 1, 2012

3. Part 1
The Data Liberation Initiative:
Kind-of-Sort-of Open Data
A look at the way Data Liberation (DLI)
started a move toward open data
CLA 2012
Wendy Watkins
June 1, 2012

4. Why Should We Care About Data?
• We use data to understand the world in
which we live
• Gives us evidence for decision and policy
making
– Individuals
– Corporations
– Governments
• Good data are essential
for good governance

5. What is the Data Liberation Initiative?
• Program to provide affordable access to
Statistics Canada’s public datafiles and
databases to academics
• Not really open – subscription based
• Partnership between Statistics Canada and
Canadian post-secondary institutions
• Housed in academic libraries
– Logical place on campus because of service
orientation and campus-wide coverage
– Used to administering licences

6. Why and How Did It Start?
• Canadian universities unable to afford
StatCan data
• Used US data or simply did without
• 1992 paper suggested a solution
• 1996 government adopted the plan
• Expected 30 universities to join
– 50 became members within the 1st year
– Far exceeded expectations

7. What Does It Include?
• All public Statistics Canada databases
– Tables, graphs, time-series aggregate data
• Geographic files at every level
– National
– Provincial
– Sub-provincial
• 350 Public Use Microdata files
– Anonymized records of individual responses
– “Designer data”

8. Statistics and Data
• Statistics are data that have been
organized
• Data are raw numbers that must be
processed to make sense

9. Statistics and Data – an analogy
• Using statistics is like buying a postcard
– Someone else defines the view
• Data have the power of a camera
– Researcher makes decisions on content

10. What Are DLI’s Benefits?
• Dedicated and knowledgeable team at
Statistics Canada
• One-stop-shop for all data and statistical
products
• Ready help via the listserv
• Annual regional training programs
• National training (every 4 years)
• Boot camps for new members (as needed)
• Community of data professionals

11. Transition to Free Statistics Canada Data
• No change for DLI
– Stopped paying for data in 2000
• All about data management
– Robust metadata
– Quality control
• One licence per institution for the collection
– non-DLI – one licence per PUMF per person
– Not a workable solution for academic libraries
• Access to valuable data NOT available outside DLI
– Canadian Centre for Health Information (CIHI)
microdata Discharge Abstract Database (DAD)
– Other important microdata under negotiation

12. Data Liberation’s Relations

13. Programs/Projects as a Result of DLI
• Research Data Centre Network
http://www.rdc-cdr.ca/
– network of 27 research centres with secure access
to Statistics Canada’s confidential data
• <odesi>
http://odesi.ca
– a digital repository for social science data
– data exploration, extraction and analysis tool
– built by academic data librarians
• Data Liberation International

14. Remember, librarians built the
infrastructure for DLI, <odesi>, Equinox
and much much more!
Over to Ernie

15. Part 2
A view from the Developing World
CLA 2012
Ernie Boyko
June 1, 2012

16. A view from the Developing World
• AKA: Data Liberation International
- Different set of challenges for developing
countries than Canadian DLI
- But the principles are transferable
- This presentation will outline the path
followed by developing countries to reach the
goal of data to support research and learning
in the context of their economic and social
development

17. Data and Development
• The value of data to guide economic and
social development has been recognized a
long time ago
- World census of population and agriculture
program
- UN Statistics Division coordination
- Periodic household surveys sponsored by
international donors
- A greater focus on macro financial time series
after the ‘Mexican Peso Crisis’

18. Barriers to Use of Sound Data
• Relevance
- Aligned to national or sponsors’ priorities ?
- Optimal timing and sequencing ?
• Data Quality
• Reliability
• Comparability
- Over time, and across countries

19. Barriers Cont’d
• Accessibility
- Legal, technical, political, psychological issues
• Usability
- Poor documentation  risk of misuse

20. Barriers Cont’d
• Accessibility
 Legal, technical, political, psychological issues
• Usability
 Poor documentation  risk of misuse
Lesson: Even if data are open, one
must pay attention to quality and
accessibility issues

21. The Marrakech Action Plan

22. The Marrakesh Action Plan
• Established the
• PARIS21 Secretariat under OECD umbrella as a
consortium of development agencies
• International Household Survey Network (IHSN)
to develop tools and policies
• Accelerated Data Program (ADP) to work with
countries

24. But measuring development
progress is still difficult…
Marrakech Action Plan for Statistics

25. International Household Survey Network
IHSN is a partnership of international
organizations
• For better data collection
- Coordination for better survey planning
- Harmonization of recommendations
• For better use of existing survey data
- Tools and guidelines for better data
documentation, dissemination, preservation
(Microdata Management Toolkit).

26. Microdata Management Toolkit
• Document data according to international
XML standards and good practices
• Availability in several languages and open
source
• Benefits:
- Preserve institutional memory
- Data quality control
- Better documentation  lower risk of misuse
- Easy dissemination (html, PDF output)

27. Microdata Management Toolkit
A specialized metadata editor for
data documentation and quality control Automatic generation of
user friendly outputs

28. Accelerated Data Program (ADP)
Providing support to countries to :
• Establish national microdata archives
• Document, disseminate existing data
• Analyze existing data for selected key issues
• Assess reliability, relevance, comparability
• Support new survey programs
• Sponsor lots of training

29. A web-based database of surveys,
searchable by region/country,
type of survey, year, etc.
Advanced search (by topic)
being developed.

30. Survey Description
For each survey,
information
is provided
in four pages:
description,
content,
documentation,
and dataset

31. Conclusions
• Data need to be transformed from their raw
state to make them more useable
• The key to success for IHSN, ADP is
standards based tools and out reach
• Tools and infrastructure for managing data
can be shared (tool kit etc. are open source)
• Data and information specialists need to
work with data producers in this process
• There is a role for professional librarians in
making data more accessible

32. Thanks to Olivier Dupriez and Neil Fantom
from World Bank/IHSN for program
slides
Over to Tracey

33. Part 3
Open Data in Canada &
Why we need Librarians
CLA 2012
Tracey P. Lauriault
tlauriau@gmail.com, datalibre.ca
June 1, 2012

34. Citizens & Open Data

35. Open North
Public Participation Budget
Budget Plateau
http://opennorth.ca/ http://budgetplateau.com/

36. Open North
Democratic Engagement
http://mamairie.ca/ http://represent.opennorth.ca/

37. Zone Cone
Avoiding Construction
Données sources
Au niveau municipal, les
données sont accessibles
indirectement sur le site de la
ville de Montréal. En d'autres
termes, ces données n'ont pas
été prévues pour être utilisées
de manière directe mais sont
affichées sur une carte dans la
section Info-Travaux.
Au niveau provinciale, les
données viennent du
Ministère des transports du
Québec et de son
service Québec 511. Là aussi le
MTQ se démarque de ses
homologues canadiens en étant
a priori le premier à proposer
des données GPS pour la
localisation des chantiers.
http://zonecone.ca/

38. Recreation
Patiner Montréal
http://patinermontreal.ca/rinks/74-saint-simon-apotre
http://montrealouvert.net/a-propos/

39. Open North
Transparency – Gov. Contracting
http://documents.montrealgazette.com

40. RAPLIQ
Accessibility – Auditing Physical Space
Whether a location is
accessible depends on
more than the
presence of a ramp.
RAPLIQ audits a
building on several
dozen criteria
important to people
with different
disabilities.
http://www.rapliq.org/2011/06/09/journee-de-laccessibilite-dans-le-vieux-montreal/

41. Accessibility Audit Prototype Map
Qu’est-ce que c’est?
This is a prototype of a map of
accessible businesses in
Montreal, based on data
compiled over the last several
years by RAPLIQ.
We're interested in finding
potential partners or
sponsors.
Qui sommes-nous?
This prototype was built by
Michael Lenczner, Josh
Vanwyck, Keharn Yawnghwe,
and Michael Mulley
Catherine Roy: ecrire@catherine-roy.net
http://montrealaccessible.ca/

42. Hacking Health
Winners from the judging
competition
We’re proud to announce
our top winners from
Hacking Health. Each
team will receive $400
and will be invited by BDC
for a consultation on how
to take their projects
forward into viable
startups.
Health Innovation
most likely to succeed:
Montréal Accessible
http://www.hackinghealth.ca/

43. Hackathons
http://www.opendataday.org/francais.html
1. Windsor 7. Edmonton
2. London 8. Vancouver
3. Ottawa 9. Victoria
4. Montréal 10. Guelph
5. Toronto 11. Halton
6. Calgary
http://opendataapps.org/

44. Random Hacks of Kindness
http://www.rhok.org/

45. Hackathon
http://www.livinglabmontreal.org/Tran
spoCampMTL
http://blog.opendataottawa.ca/
http://montrealouvert.net/2011/11/23/compte-
rendu-du-3e-hackathon-montreal-ouvert/?lang=en

46. Open Data Cities
http://datalibre.ca/
• OpenData Framework; Municipal Open • Ville de Montréal Portails données ouvertes
Government Framework (QC), Montréal Ouvert – Citizen Led
• City of Burlington (ON), Pilot • City of Nanaimo (BC)
• City of Calgary (AB) • City of Niagara Falls (ON)
• City of Edmonton (AB) • District of North Vancouver (BC) GeoWeb
• City of Fredericton (NB) • City of Ottawa (ON), Citizens’ APP Group –
• Gatineau Ouverte – Citizen Led OpenData Ottawa; Apps
• City of Guelph (ON), Guelph Coffee and • Region of Peel (ON)
Code – Citizen Led • Ville de Québec Catalogue de données, / Capitale
• City of Hamilton (Transit Feed) (ON), Ouverte (QC)- Citizen Led in Ville de Québec
Open Data Hamilton – Citizen Led • City of Prince George (BC) catalog
• OpenHalton (ON) – Citizen Led • City of Regina (SK) Open Gov & Open Data site
• City of London (ON), OpenData London – • City of Surrey (BC) GIS Catalog
Citizen Led
• City of Toronto (ON); DataTO – Citizen Group
• Township of Langley (BC)
• City of Vancouver (BC); Open Data Wiki
• City of Mississauga – Mississauga Data
(ON) • Region of Waterloo (ON) – Citizen Led
• City of Windsor (ON) Open Data Catalog

47. Open Data BC
http://www.data.gov.bc.ca/

48. Open Data Canada
http://www.data.gc.ca/default.asp?lang=En&n=F9B7A1E3-1

49. Where we need librarians:
• Point to these data & apps
• Point citizens to related resources
• Examine & evaluate portals
• Cataloguing expertise
• Data & app curation
• Be a citizen librarian at hackfest &
hackathons
• Contribute expertise in public consultations
• Advise your city, prov. & fed gov’ts

50. Community & Locally based Data

51. FCM Quality of Life Reporting System
Participating Member Communities:
• City of Calgary • Regional Municipality of Waterloo
• Region of Durham • Halifax Regional Municipality
• City of Edmonton • Regional Municipality of Niagara
• Ville de Gatineau • Communauté métropolitaine de
• Halton Region Montréal
• City of Hamilton • City of Ottawa
• City of Kingston • Region of Peel
• Ville de Laval • City of Regina
• City of London • City of Saskatoon
• City of Toronto • City of Greater Sudbury
• City of Vancouver • City of Surrey
• Metro Vancouver • City of Winnipeg
• York Region
http://fcm.ca/home/programs/quality-of-life-reporting-system/program-resources.htm/home

52. FCM QoLRS Domains
http://www.municipaldata-
donneesmunicipales.ca/Site/Reporting/en/reporting_tool.php

53. FCM
Quality of Life Reporting System
http://www.municipaldata-
donneesmunicipales.ca/Site/Reporting/en/reporting_tool.php

54. Public Health - Saskatoon
http://www.communityview.ca/index.html

55. Santé Publique - Montréal
http://emis.santemontreal.qc.ca/

56. Cities
www.toronto.ca/wellbeing

57. Community Based Research
Social Planning Council of Winnipeg
http://www.spcw.mb.ca

58. Community Based Research
Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton
http://www.sprc.hamilton.on.ca/CommunityMappingService.php

59. Community Based Research
Community Development Halton
0
http://www.cdhalton.ca/lens/index.htm

60. Community Data Program
Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD)
1. Calgary
2. Edmonton
3. Halton Region
4. Hamilton
5. Kingston
6. London
7. Montréal
8. Saint John, New Brunswick
9. Newfoundland (In Discussions)
10. Niagara (In Discussions)
11. Ottawa
12. Peel Region
13. Peterborough
14. Regina (In Discussions)
15. Saskatoon (In Discussions)
16. Sault Ste. Marie
17. Simcoe County
18. Sudbury
19. Thunder Bay
20. Toronto
21. Vancouver
22. Victoria
23. Waterloo
24. Winnipeg
http://communitydata-donneescommunautaires.ca/home 25. York Region

61. Community Data Program
Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD)
http://communitydata-donneescommunautaires.ca/home

62. Community Data Canada
NGOs, Cities, Federal Govt.
http://cdc-dcc.info/mandate.php

63. Social Data Portals
Data are inaccessible to researchers
FCM Municipal Data Collection Tool
http://www.municipaldata-
donneesmunicipales.ca/Site/Collection/en
http://hifis.hrsdc.gc.ca/index-eng.shtml /index.php

64. Where we need librarians:
• Add these resources to your collection
• Point to these data & apps
• Create a local blog
• Volunteer in a local org. & help w/their data
resources (e.g., librarians w/out borders)
• Apply cataloguing expertise
• Data & app curation
• Develop a local advisory/reference group for
non profits

65. Research Data

66. Atlas of the Risk of Homelessness
Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre & FCM
FCM & Geomatics
and Cartographic
Research Centre
Data & Software
- Nunaliit
Cybercartographic Atlas
Framework ( BSD)
- Data Liberation Initiative
(DLI) Statistics Canada
(Restricted use)
- FCM QoLRS
(Viewing only)
- City Neighbourhood
framework data files
(Viewing only)
- Toronto Community
Housing (Viewing
only)
https://gcrc.carleton.ca/confluence/display/GCRCWEB/Atlases

67. City of Toronto, GCRC, & FCM
Aging Social Housing Stock
https://gcrc.carleton.ca/confluence/display/GCRCWEB/Atlases

68. Atlas of Antarctica
Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre
http://atlases.gcrc.carleton.ca/antar
ctic/territorial/territories.xml.html
http://atlases.gcrc.carleton.ca/ant
arctic/intro/intro.xml.html#intro
duction

69. ISIUOP – Participatory Data Collection
Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre
Data & Software
- Nunaliit Cybercartographic Atlas Framework (BSD)
- Geogratis Framework & Topographic Data (Unrestricted terms
of use)
- Flow lines collected by different hunters (Shared rights)
- More sensitive data – e.g. Bear Dens, sacred sites, environmentally sensitive
data are for viewing & use by the community only
- Data part of IPY Canada
https://gcrc.carleton.ca/confluence/display/ISIUOP/Inuit+Sea+Ice+Use+and+
Occupancy+Project+(ISIUOP)

70. Nunaliit iPad Data Capture app
Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre
• Community:
• Wished access was faster and atlas and data
were housed in community
• Wished adding content was easier
• Needed flexibility for types of data and
metadata to be saved and how to present it
• Nunaliit:
• Distributed network of replicating nodes,
including nodes in communities, and on
mobile
• Simplified data collection app replaces half
a dozen devices for offline data collection
• Document oriented database with data and
applications loosely connected via flexible
schema system

71. Inuit Siku (sea ice) Atlas
Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre
http://sikuatlas.ca/sea_ice_map.html?module=1

72. Lake Huron Treaty Atlas
Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre
http://atlas.gcrc.carleton.ca/lakehurontreaties/

73. International Polar Year (IPY)
( IPY Research funding and data management)
http://www.ipy-api.gc.ca/pg_IPYAPI_052-fra.html

74. Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)
http://geogratis.cgdi.gc.ca
/
http://www.geobase.ca
http://geodiscover.cgdi.ca
http://www.geoconnections.
org/fr/resourcelibrary/keySt
udiesReports

75. Antarctic Digital Database (ADD)
http://www.add.scar.org:8080/add/WMSmap.js
p

76. Where we need librarians:
• Archival & gov’t documents
• Point to portals
• Discovery of scientific & historical data
• Work with indigenous groups & help to
manage knowledge resources
• Apply cataloguing expertise
• Data & app curation
• Help researchers find specialist librarians

77. Q&A
Thank you!