VT Census Case Studies : Department of Education - Academic Library Survey

Created by ziemer, last modified by steph19 on 07 Nov 2015

Brief Overall Description of the Dataset:

“The data includes total operating expenditures, full-time equivalent library staff, service outlets, total volumes held at the end of the fiscal year, circulation, interlibrary loans, public service hours, gate count, reference transactions per typical week, and electronic services."

Link: https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/libraries/aca_data.asp 

Date Inventory Completed: 6/19/15

Screening

  • Is the data collected opinion-based?
  • Is the data collection recurring (must be collected at least annually)?
  • Is there data available for 2013? None for 2013 - it's collected every 2 years
  • For Education: Is the data collected at least the school level? (delete if housing data)
  • Can we access the data by August 15th
  • Can the data be linked to other education/workforce datasets (e.g., K-12, higher education, workforce)?

Purpose

  • What is the purpose of the organization collecting the data?

“The U.S. Census Bureau collects the Academic Libraries Survey (ALS) data for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to provide a comprehensive picture on the status of collection, transaction, staff, service per typical week, and library operating expenditures in post-secondary institutions. The survey is being conducted in compliance with NCES’ mission to ‘collect, analyze, and disseminate statistics and other data related to education in the United States…’ ”

  • Why is it collected and how does the organization use it?

“ Congress uses the data to assess the need for revisions of existing legislation concerning academic libraries and academic library programs. Federal agencies that administer library grants for collection development, resource sharing and networking activities (i.e., the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the National Library of Medicine (NLM), and the Library of Congress) need the data to evaluate the condition of academic libraries in order to better administer their programs. State education agencies and college librarians and administrators use the data for regional and national comparisons of library resources to plan for the effective use of funds.”

  • Who else uses the data?

 

“Library associations and researchers use the survey results to determine the status of academic library operations and the librarian profession”

 

 

  • Who do they sell the data to?

NA


 

Method

  • What is the data collection method? 

Web-based reporting system

  • What is the type of data collected? 

Designed collection

  • If designed, who created the questions?

Government

  • What is the raw source of the collected data (prior to any aggregation)? 

Library administrators for respective schools


Description

 

  • What is the general topic of the data (1-2 words)?

Student resources

 

  • What are the earliest and latest dates for which data is available?

1996-2012

  • Is data collected and available periodically?

“Data collection occurs biennially in even years during November-March.”

  • How soon after a reference period ends can a data source be prepared and provided? 

A little over a year

Selectivity

  • What is the universe (e.g., population) that the data represents?

Around 3,500 “degree-granting postsecondary institutions in the 50 states and the District of Columbia”, and territories including institutions and branch campuses that are eligible for Title IV aid.

Accessibility

  • How is the data accessed? 

Available for online download as a zip file, SAS or SPSS format

  • Is it open data?

Yes

  • Any legal, regulatory, or administrative restrictions on accessing the data source?

No

  • Cost? - One time or annual or project based payment?

NA

Does this dataset appear to meet our needs for the Census study? NO

Explanation: No individual level data available nor 2013 data


Full Inventory 

Description

  • What is the general contents of the data source?

Schools

  • Features
    • What is the temporal nature of the data: longitudinal, time-series, or one time point?

Longitudinal

    • Geospatial? If Yes, at what level?

School location level

 

Metadata

  • Is there information available to assess the transparency and soundness of the methods to gather the data for our purposes?

Yes

  • Is there a description of each variable in the source along with their valid values?

Yes

  • Are there unique IDs for unique elements that can be used for linking data?

Unique ID’s for schools

  • Is there a data dictionary or codebook?

Yes

Selectivity

  • What unit is represented at the record level of the data source?

Schools

  • Does this universe match the stated intentions for the data collection? If not, what has been included or excluded and why?

Yes

  • What is the sampling technique used (if applicable)? 

Same as Census

  • What was the coverage?

86%

Stability/Coherence

  • Were there any changes to the universe of data being captured (including geographical areas covered) and if so what were they?

They keep track of what county a school is in and if there are any new or reinstated degree granting postsecondary institutions.

  • Were there any changes in the data capture method and if so what were they? 

“The procedure of using medians instead of means for imputation also represents a change from past survey cycles. While research indicates that the effect of the change in imputation procedure was not large, caution should be exercised in making comparison with 2000 or earlier reports.”

  • Were there any changes in the sources of data and if so what were they? 

NA

Accuracy

  • Any known sources of error?

Unknown

  • Describe any quality control checks performed by the data’s owner.

They describe a thorough data imputation process for missing values

Accessibility

  • Any records or fields collected, but not included in data source, such as for confidentiality reasons)? 

Yes, records matching to identify individual respondents

  • Is there a subset of variables and/or data that is must be obtained through a separate process? If yes, is there a separate legal, regulatory, or administrative restrictions on accessing the data source? Cost? - One time or annual or project based payment?

Yes, there is data on individual respondents. Must be a researcher licensed by NCES to obtain this data, information at:       http://nces.ed.gov/statprog/confid.asp   

Privacy and security

  • Was consent given by participant? If so, how was consent given?

NA

  • Are there legal limitations or restrictions on the use of the data? 

Privacy Act of 1974, Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, USA Patriot Act of 2001, and the E-Government Act of 2002.

  • What confidentiality policies does the source have? 

Can only share data with licensed NCES researchers.

 

Research

  • What research has been done with this dataset? (e.g., impact of policies, predictors of student success)

There are government reports on Education Statistics that use this data.

  • Include any links to research if provided:

https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/getpubcats.asp?sid=041#050 

  • List any other data use notes provided by the supplier.

NA