Post on 27-Mar-2015
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