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State Data Coordinator Conference- Day 3
By admin | December 17, 2012
On the last day of my conference, we learned about some new tools the Census has been developing to better use the data we send them.
The Census puts all of the national data collected into a complex system they call DataWeb. From there, we can extract the data using a system they have been developing for the past few years called DataFerrett. DataFerrett allows the information collected by the Census and available through the American Community Survey to be overlaid onto maps and charts. This tool is very useful if you are profiling your city or town. However, it is very detailed and can be difficult to navigate if you are not familiar with federal abbreviations and codes.
A simpler tool recently unveiled is called HotReports. HotReports creates an interactive web page for your state or city with maps, charts, and tabs for different kinds of information. The best feature of this tool is a tab for library services in which you can include attendance, circulation, population served, or collection. Although you cannot overlay, for instance, the number of children attending children’s programming in a city with the number of children receiving free or reduced lunch yet, the Census is working to integrate data and present it in a clear way for us to use.
I hope that with these new tools I can distribute information to all of the libraries so that you can better serve your populations and also find how your library fits into the national library scene.
If there is anything you would like to know more about, or if you have questions, please call or email me. I’d be happy to speak with you.
~Lauren
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