EQUINOX DATA DELIVERY SYSTEM

May 31, 2011 –Elizabeth Hill

Equinox.uwo.ca

Equinox Data Delivery System Bilingual web-based data delivery system

Equinox holdings are largely comprised of DLI data files and geographic boundary files

Subscription-based system used by 46 Canadian colleges and Universities that are DLI member institutions

http://equinox.uwo.ca

Equinox Data Delivery System Developed as a partnership project

between Western (University of Western Ontario) and CREPUQ

Based on Internet Data Library System (IDLS) and Sherlock (CREPUQ)

Microdata files are loaded at Western and French metadata and aggregated data are provided through CREPUQ

Equinox – accessing files

Browse By title By topic Other categories (recently added / modified

files / public) Search

Basic At file and variable level

Advanced File: Limit by keywords, title, author, geography,

abstract or date Variable: Limit by variable name or label, question

text or prefix, notes

Equinox – accessing files, example Browse

By title – census

•Select leading text letter in the name of the file from the Title index•Results indicate number of files beginning with that letter•Many results returned

Equinox – accessing files, example Browse

By topic (Census)

•Select topic(s) from list•Topics based on Statistics Canada topics list

Equinox – accessing files, example Browse

By topic - results • Notes number of files returned• Results can be broad

Equinox – accessing files - Search Basic search - files are searchable at the

file and variable levels, simultaneously•Basic Search is default entry screen•Single term or boolean operator with multiple terms can be used for search

Equinox – accessing files -Search Basic search – results, more limits on

results with searching than with browse

Equinox – accessing files - Search Advanced search - search at the file or

variable level•Advanced Search permits searching for terms in specific fields, using up to 4 sets of criteria

Equinox – accessing files -Search Advanced search – results, results are

more limited with searching than with browse •Advanced

Search offers complex query•This example shows options at file level

Equinox – accessing files -Search Advanced search – results, results are

more limited with searching than with browse

•Advanced Search offers complex query•This example shows options at variable level•Variable fields include:

•Variable label•Variable name•Question text•Question prefix•Variable notes

Equinox – accessing files -Search Advanced search – search at variable

level, displays variables with text from search string •Variable level search

results displays variable information that include search string•File can be selected for use, variables found from initial search will be preselected

Equinox – browse, search results Results of browse or search operations

are displayed using the same report•Search or browse results can be further limited by type of file:

•Microdata

•Aggregated data

•Geographic products

•External web sites

Equinox – browse, search results Results are grouped by survey, then

descending by date•A link is provided to documentation about each file•An access point to the data is provided (retrieve data may open a file or provide option to save, or with microdata allows selection (next slides)•Get B20/20 or other file launches file open in viewer software

Equinox – aggregated data

If for example aggregated data is in B2020 format, the prompt to open or save the data file will appear:

The B2020 icon will appear if the viewer software is installedFiles can be opened or saved for later use

Equinox – microdata

Access to microdata files permits subsetting or entire file download

Retrieve entire file

Subset, which permits variable and value selections*Note: can retrieve all variables, but limit on values (e.g. All variables for B.C. only)

Equinox – microdata

Access to microdata files permits subsetting or entire file download

Default selection to further subset dataset at value level

Value selections can include all values, range of values or value labels (next slide)

Equinox – microdata

Values – restricting results

Limit by value labels

Limit by range of values

Equinox – microdata

Submit data requestData request job asks for:•E-mail addressPrompts user asking them if they want:•Statistical software syntax•Codebook•Data file•French data format available (decimal comma rather than decimal point)Submit action results in link to data file, email link to user

Equinox – Access to content

Metadata is available without restriction, as is documentation unless a restriction has been placed on a file

Access is granted to subscribers based on IP address, collections within Equinox that the subscriber institution has access to are available to Equinox users from those institutions

Equinox – Interface notes

The Equinox interface can be customized in the MyEquinox menu by the user to specify:

Language preference (French or English) Default Entry Screen

MyEquinox also shows a listing of previous microdata job submissions

Equinox – Help

Help outlining access points to data within Equinox system (Browse, search), and how to use Equinox are available in both French and English within the help menu

Help with data and a glossary are additional help menu topics

Any page can be bookmarked (including searches)

Equinox – Contact / Feedback Contact Us menu provides links to:

Technical report online form Subscription form Local contacts for Equinox at subscribing

institutions Feedback

Questions?

Contact us

Equinox team can be contacted via on-line form:

http://equinox.uwo.ca – ‘Contact Us’ menu

Liz Hill ethill@uwo.caWestern Libraries, Map and Data CentreUniversity of Western OntarioLondon, ON 519-661-2111 x85049