Canada Census of population PRESENTATION Census of Canada collections and survey User survey introduction born print discovery amp access 3 Print collections 45 7 Frequency of collections use by ODC members 6 ID: 1045506
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1. Access & DISCOVERY to historical Census statistics & GeographyCanada Census of population
2. PRESENTATIONCensus of Canada collections and survey User survey introduction, born print discovery & access (3) Print collections (4-5, 7)Frequency of collections use by ODC members (6)Digital collections (8-9)User survey, most used censuses (6)User survey introduction, born digital, discovery & access (9)User survey: census support services (10) and ease of support by type of collections (11)2Seamlessness of access Access challenges – geography (12)Access challenges – other (13)DISCUSSION (14)
3. Born-print collectionsGOOD & BAD of discovery and access from Susan’s November 2019 informal surveyBEST: Most trustworthy historical census tools:Library catalogues, Statistics Canada publications, U of T MDL web site (e.g., scanned table of contents), Internet ArchivePROBLEMS: Gaps to discovery and accessNo complete census collection at any OCUL institution, so digitization and free access online would be wonderfulBringing all the info together in one place. Making born digital and digitized tables openly available. Converting digitized print to tabular data files. Lots of work to be done!Proper indexes3
4. PRINT Collections 1Pre-confederation, 1665-1871 (Statistics of Canada, Vol.IV)Former E-Stat statistical files covering PEI, NB, NS, QC, ON, MN, BCE-Stat discovery interface was key to usability (bilingual)E-Stat discontinued and files archivedData rescues:343 tables in Beyond 20/20 viewer format. Queen’s http://library.queensu.ca/data/census-1665-1871/E-Stat... By region & dateValue-added province name changes DLI EFT (EN/FR)DLI-EFT /MAD_DLI_IDD_DAM/Root/census_pop_recensGeography undocumented – consistency is unknown (a nd no boundary files)Note also, LAC has web site: http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/pages/census.aspx from pre-confederation onStatistics Canada. (1982). “Census” in Historical catalogue of Statistics Canada publications, 1918-1980, pp. 210-280. http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2017/statcan/CS11-512-1982-eng.pdfStatistics Canada, InfoGuide, Historical Sources, https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/library/historical4
5. BORN PRINT COLLECTIONS continuedPost-confederation 1871 to approximately 1986 MicrodataCanadian Century Research Infrastructure project (EN/FR): 1911, 1921, 1931, 1941, 1951 http://www.ccri.uottawa.ca/CCRI/Home.htmlTechnical : http://web5.uottawa.ca/ccri/CCRI-portal-static/CCRI-portal-static-english/index.php@option=com_content&task=view&id=319&itemid=108.htmArchived Questionnaires/Schedules and Instructions to Enumerators in EN/FRCensus microdata files still out of public domain are available in RDC’sDDI metadata assumed unavailable5
6. CENSUS CollectionsUse by ODC members, Nov. 2016 surveyFrequent user questions, last two censuses: 2006, 2011 (high: 6 out of 7) …..Born digital (boundary files) – standardized products + boundary files, variations NHS + Semi-regular questions: 1991-2001 (mid: about half of respondents (4)) …..Largely born digital: includes profiles, cross-tabs, and PUMFs (multiple platforms + boundary files)Occasional, throughout the year: 1871-1986 (low: 2 out of 7) …..Born print + born digital, Multiple platforms + weak geography boundary collections6
7. BORN PRINT COLLECTIONS CONT’DPost-confederation 1871 to approximately 1986 Statistical tablesMicro-fiched print (Microlog) (EN/FR) Uneven access owing in part to expensiveness of subscription to fiches and indexing services (5 indexes) MARC records never had a standard cataloguing level. This is problematic when terms changed so much, e.g., “foreign stock”Only Queen’s has a full collectionBenefit of CODOC classification for browsing has not fully exploited (ILS shelf browsing feature is not a prioritiyMARC record links to Internet Archive (STC Bibliocat) Complex organization of print Two volume Population volumes most standard. (However, these volumes are minor in terms of total number of statistical tables, and occasional times series) U of T digitized tables of contents. Highly used. Originals of varying quality and completeness.7
8. Born-digital collectionsDigital Starts About 1981Many digital products started In print Profiles, Nation Series, Dimension Series, other Cross-tabulations (now Topic-based Tabulations)Digital formats problematic in earlier years – Embedded In Search Interfaces*Data archiving – reference tools, Census to Census, tables, geography … Laine Ruus, U of T Map & Data LibraryWebsite redesign (EN) University of Toronto MDLhttps://mdl-beta.library.utoronto.ca/collections/numeric-data/census-canadaPulls together info in different places and add-on links (e.g., Internet Archives)Western: Historical Census table searchable by Census Year / cycle (biligual)DemoHttp://Mdc.Lib.Uwo.Ca/Census/Pubsearch.Htm | Url Http://Mdc.Lib.Uwo.Ca/Census/Pubsearchf.Htm Scholars Geoportall – geo-referenced boundary files back to 1971 (?)1996-2011: Statistics Canada Web Site + Odesi / Dataverse (Small Area Geography Before 2006 And Special Topics) also includes older Basic Summary Tables (B2020)Statistics Canada. (1982). “Census” in Historical catalogue of Statistics Canada publications, 1918-1980, pp. 210-280. http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2017/statcan/CS11-512-1982-eng.pdf8
9. Born-digital collectionsGOOD & BAD of discovery and access from informal surveyBEST: Most trustworthy toolsStatistics Canada (STC), Google searching STC web site, DLI & WDS, U of T Census pages for older censuses, Odesi, Queen’s pre-Conderation pages, own historical census searchPROBLEMS: Gaps to discovery and accessHave to go to more than one placeComparability of NHSOutdated file formats & lack of substantive documentationSome restrictions on the U of T files to change with the new U of T MDL finding aid, web siteNeeded: A tool that would allow a search by more than one variable at a time9
10. Ease of User supportODC informal survey, Nov. 2016 (N=5)10
11. Access challenges, 1Comparable geographyPre-standard geographyAdministrative geography most standard (when did municipalities become a thing?) Counties?Before standard sub-municipal breakdown, it was about Wards. Maps challenging, LAC refers to general term, census sub districts.Print maps distributed not standardbuilding digital geo-referenced census maps11
12. Access challenges - continuedSOME TOPIC ACCESS TO TABLES ACROSS CENSUSESMANY TYPES OF TABLES: Problematic for both print and born digitalProfiles, cross-tabulations, are found more than the 2-volume population tablesTime-series tables other special treatment tables are also uneven STRUCTURE: Many but not all volumes have lists of tables), the catalogues don’t give it all – some are image documentsOrganization of volumes not standard and tables evolved depending on content …Browsing the above requires knowledge of changing language (immigrants / foreign stock or methodlogy (e.G., Language definitions varied wildly until recently).12
13. CENSUS Projects mentioned in surveyData rescue expertise and guideHistorical census inventory database at Western as per Http://Mdc.Lib.Uwo.Ca/Census/Pubsearchf.Htm New U of T MDL finding aid, as per https://mdl-beta.library.utoronto.ca/collections/numeric-data/census-canadaFurther digitization and historical census years? (further to born-print digitization project,Publications,.gc.ca, Internet Archive)AND OTHER GROUPS:Government Information Community: Disperse Microlog and MARC recordsStatistics Canada Library’s ongoing digitization project with publications.gc.ca and LACAmber’s work + Geo Community: historical boundary files in GeoPortal Canadian Century Research Infrastructure, CCRIPossibility of web archiving and Scholars Portal, e.g. Dataverse13
14. Discussion“Seamless access”?Overarching questions?Bibliography of collections, sources, platforms YES!What discovery metadata could we have across platforms?Harmonized geography - Geo CommunityMore assessment of standards of access across collections?Microlog and MARC records – Government Information communityCanadian century research infrastructure + CFI14