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DLI Contacts and Designates Survey: Quebec regional profile

Gaëtan DroletTrain the trainers February 23–25, 2010Université de MontréalMontreal, QC

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Introduction to the survey

Objectives of the survey: Provide important information to the DLI Section, the External

Advisory Committee (EAC) and the Education Committee Help plan how we can better serve DLI Contacts and DLI

institutions Learn more about the situations and requirements of DLI

contacts and Designates Provide feedback to DLI contacts and designates Engage DLI contacts and designates in planning for the future

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Quick Overview

Final count --97 completed online surveys• Response rate:

Overall 82% (97/118) DLI contacts 92% (66/72) Designates 67% (31/46)

• Response rate for contacts allows us to treat it as a census

• DLI Contacts (68%) Designates (32%)

Quick overview

• Respondents' language of use: English 78.4% French 21.6%

• Respondents by region: Atlantic 18.6% Quebec 20.6% Ontario 33% West 27.8%

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Q9 Respondents by region in %

Atlantic Quebec Ontario West CanadaOfficial DLI contact 66.7 60 62.5 81.5 68Designate contact 33.3 40 37.5 18.5 32Total 100 100 100 100 100N= 18 20 32 27 97

NATURE OF AND SUPPORT FOR DATA SERVICES

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Q5 Among all your responsibilities, do you consider yourself a resource person for ... ?

Recorded in %

Region Data GIS Reference Gov. Docs

Atlantic 83.3 0.0 0.0 0.0Quebec 66.7 0.0 0.0 0.0Ontario 55.0 0.0 0.0 35.0West 27.3 4.5 68.2 13.6

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Q7 Percentage of your work dedicated to data by region and size of institution

Region Very small Small Medium LargeAtlantic 9.8 12.5 30.0 n/aQuebec 25.3 11.7 7.5 45.0Ontario 15.0 11.4 41.3 60.0West 5.8 13.7 39.0 50.0

Q8 Are data and GIS tasks or responsibilities specified in your job description?

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Q4 How long IN TOTAL have you served as

DLI contact … at your institution?

Region Average YearsAtlantic 8.33Quebec 6.33Ontario 6.55West 7.86

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Q12 Does your institution offer a dedicated data service?

Region Data Service in %Atlantic 27.8Quebec 50.0Ontario 67.7West 44.4

Q16 What data-retrieval system is used by your establishment? In %

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Section II: Q23 Satisfaction with the support you receive from your local institution to provide data services

From 1=completely dissatisfied to 5=completely satisfied

Region MeanAtlantic 2.92Quebec 3.42Ontario 3.35West 3.45

Size Mean<5,000 3.315K-9.999 3.0010K-19,999 3.41Over 20,000 3.56

Q24 From the following support types, rank those that would contribute most to improving your establishment's data service

• Numbers in parentheses indicate the ranking for Canada, the % are for your region

1. Physical space 100% (8)2. Support from upper management 75% (3)3. Support for SIG/GIS 60% (4)4. Increased funding 50% (1)5. Support of the reference staff 33.3% (6)6. Technical support 20% (2)7. Statistical support 18.2% (5)8. Computer support 14.3% (7)

Q22 Activities with Canada and Quebec RDCs

%Canada % Québec

Refer researchers/students 60.8 66.7

Distribute RDC flyers 25.8 41.7

Mention RDC in training 42.3 33.3

Correspond with RDC analyst/employee 32 25

Working relationship with RDC employee 23.7 16.7

Sit on RDC committee 14.4 8.3

Joint training activities 10.3 16.7

RDC as part of your DLI responsibilities 94.8 95

Have no RDC activity in your institution 27.8 30

Summary: Nature of and Support for Data Services – Canada

– Size of institutions can be measured in quartiles with 25% in each of the following groups:

• very small (<5K),• small (5-10K),• medium (10-20K) • large (20K+)

– Half of respondents in smaller institutions have fewer than 5 years experience

– 64% in larger institutions have 6-10 years experience

– Approximately 70% have data responsibilities as part of their job description.

– Contacts with multiple hats with many variations exist in all but large institutions

Summary: Nature of and Support for Data Services – Quebec

• The highest rate (40%) of designates assigned to data (n=8).

• Only 45.5% of contacts had data-related tasks specified in their description of functions (80% in Ontario and 68% in the West).

• Percentage of work devoted to data: between 7.5% and 45% The average is 7.5% in Quebec, between 30 and 40% in the other regions. Large: the fewest from among the other regions.

• The least experienced group in Canada in terms of the number of years.

• The region in which the least information is collected on product use (18%, elsewhere over 30%).

SATISFACTION WITH DLI PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND DLI SECTION

Q28 How often do you use DLI products and services:

• All DLI contacts (n=64) use CANSIM through E-STATQuebec: 54.6% daily or weekly.

• 76.4% use CANSIM II through CHASSQuebec 44.4% weekly and 11.1% never.

• 65.6% of DLI contacts make use of training documents provided by DLI

Quebec 58.4%

Seldom or Never Accessed/Canada

• Reports and reference documents (33.8%)

• Product dissemination dates (26.2%)

• List of survey names and acronyms (26.6%)

Quebec Canada

Read dlilist messages daily or nearly every day

91.6 89.2

Write dlilist messages daily or nearly every day

16.7 10.8

Search dlilist messages daily or nearly every day

16.7 16.9

Q28 How often do you read, write and search the dlilist? (%)

Quebec Canada

Read dlilist messages seldom or never

0 6.1

Write dlilist messages seldom or never

33.3 36.9

Search dlilist messages seldom or never

16.6 21.5

The Flip Side…

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Q30 Your level of satisfaction with DLI/Canada products and services

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Q34 Top improvements to DLI products and services that would help you to work more effectively with data users at your institution

Areas of improvements 1st priority 2nd priority 3rd priority Total n=Expansion of business/economic collection

35.1 (13) 43.2 (16) 21.6 (8) n=37

Expansion of aggregate statistics collection

29.7 (11) 37.8 (14) 32.4 (12) n=37

A single version of CANSIM on the STC w ebsite

29.7 (11)

37.8 (14)

32.4 (12)

n=34

Access to longitudinal pumfs

44.0 (11)

36.0 (9)

20.0 (5)

n=25

Quality and standardization of metadata

36.4 (8) 36.4 (8) 27.3 (6) n=22

Expansion of administrative public use f iles

33.3 (7) 38.1 (8) 28.6 (6) n=21

Same list without percentages ...

1. Expansion of business/economic collection2. Expansion of aggregate statistics collection3. A single version of CANSIM on the STC website4. Access to longitudinal pumfs5. Quality and standardization of metadata6. Expansion of administrative public use files

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In Summary: Satisfaction with products, services, and the DLI Unit

• DLI section: numerous and positive comments about the DLI staff

- top improvement mentioned is language of your choice n=5 contacts.

• FTP site: negative comments about the organization and documentation of the FTP site, version control, directory naming

- Census/Geography products of most concern here

• Products and services: - comments on Pumfs/metadata - about CANSIM (n=19) - comments about access.

• Improving the DLI website as first priority.

THE TRAINING ENVIRONMENT

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Q39 AS DLI contacts, do you usually attend DLI training workshops?

Region Yes No Never Attended

Atlantic 75.0 0.0 25.0Quebec 100.0 0.0 0.0Ontario 80.0 15.0 5.0West 90.9 9.1 0.0

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Q42 Overall, how satisfied are you with the DLI training?

From 1=not satisfied and 5=completely satisfiedRegion Level of SatisfactionAtlantic 4.13Quebec 4.42Ontario 4.58West 4.33

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Q43 Topics of the training and their importance

The categories "Important" and "Very important" are combined.

The highest and lowest rankings are presented.

The results are presented, first for Canada as a whole, and then for Quebec.

To identify the least important training elements in your region, we selected the least important from the 18 in question 43.

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Q43 Most important training topics and delivery modes…Canada

Top rankings for Canada RankingRegional workshops 93.5Subject matter presentations 91.9DLI section presentations 88.7Hands-on sessions 88.7Product reviews 83.9

Top rankings for Quebec Ranking

Regional workshops 91.7

Hands-on sessions 91.7

Subject matter presentations 91.7

Training materials /DLI section presentations /Products reviews

91.7

Q43 Most important training topics and delivery modes…Quebec

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Less important training topics and delivery modes…Canada

Bottom rankings for Canada RankingDownloading 59.0Reference interview 61.7DLI licence 66.1National workshops 67.2Knowledge of the DLI collection 73.8

Less important training topics and delivery modes…Quebec

Bottom rankings for Quebec Ranking

National training 58.3

Downloading files 58.3

Statistical software 66.7

Statistical and data literacy 66.7

License 66.9

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Summary on importance of training areas

Common important training areas for Quebec and Canada: - Regional workshops - Subject matter presentations - DLI section presentations - Hands-on training

Less important training areas for all regions: -National workshops

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Q45 Knowledge and competencies

How do you evaluate your own knowledge and competency on 12 aspects.

Fairly competent and very competent categories were collapsed and the top and bottom ranks are presented below.

Results are provided first for Canada as a whole and then for the Quebec.

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Q45 Evaluation of your knowledge or competency on the following aspects:

Top rankings for Canada Ranking

Census 71.9Finding and retrieving aggregate statistics 60.0Knowledge of the DLI products 52.3Finding and retrieving microdata 50.8Knowledge of DLI surveys 50.8

Evaluation of your knowledge or competency on the following aspects:

Top rankings for Quebec Ranking

Census 83.3

Finding and retrieveing aggregate data 75.0

Knowledge of DLI surveys 58.3

Knowledge of DLI products 58.3

Using and interpreting data documentation 50.0

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Q45 Less knowledgeable or less competent on the following aspects:

Bottom rankings for Canada RankingUsing software to manipulate variables 18.8Using software to create specific file formats 26.6Knowledge of data outside DLI 29.2Statistical and data literacy 29.7Finding and retrieving geographic files 36.5

Less knowledgeable or less competent on the following aspects:

Bottom rankings for Quebec Ranking

Using software to manipulate variables 16.7

Statistical and data literacy 18.3

Using software to create specific files formats 25.0

Knowledge of data outside DLI 25.0

Findind and retrieving microdata/Answering reference questions

41.7

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Summary on knowledge and competency

All regions feel comfortable with: - Census - Finding and retrieving aggregate statistics- Knowledge of DLI surveys

o But feel less comfortable with:- Using software to manipulate variables- Using software to create specific file formats- Knowledge of data outside DLI- Statistical and data literacy

A FEW FACTS ABOUT DESIGNATES

Designates characteristics• Served an average of 4.66 years

as designates (n=31/46)• % of time dedicated to

data (30.7%) GIS (20.5%) other work (48.8%)

• 42.5% do DLI classroom instruction

(Contacts 54% - 85%)

• DLI workshops attended by 53.3%• Overall satisfaction with DLI

training 4.19 (Contacts 4.13 – 4.58)

Region Number Percent Atlantic 6 19.4Quebec 8 25.8Ontario 12 38.7West 5 16.1

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From the comments:The clientele for DLI training

Official clientele for the DLI workshops: DLI Contacts

Respondents have identified other clients who have DLI training needs:

1. Designates

2. Students

3. Professors

4. Researchers/Managers

5. Reference Librarians/Library Technicians

Training the trainers

Training the intermediaries

Training the back-up

Training the local

colleagues

Training the end-users

CoordinatorsInstructors

Future Instructors

DLI contacts

Designates

Reference, GovDocs, GIS

Librarians

Students, Faculty, Researchers,

Managers

The Training Continuum

DISCUSSION

Discussion: The results in general

• General reactions?

• What surprised you?

• What did not surprise you?

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Discussion: Training

Fewer experienced DLI contacts may also signify a smaller pool of individuals available to provide this training. Does this indicate a need for increased and more targeted training? How do we rise to this challenge?

Does establishment size factor into planning DLI training? If yes, how?

Some establishments state that they field questions about the statistics rather than about the microdata. Should this be reflected in the types of training offered?

Does the DLI have a role to play in the local training of colleagues, researchers, and students?

Is the timing of the annual DLI workshop right? What of the national workshop? Its role?

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Discussion: Designates

Proportionately, Quebec has more designates assigned to data files than the rest of Canada. (Re: The 2009 training camp).

Is there an issue with the training of the designates? Is more targeted training needed? In your establishment? At the regional level?

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Discussion: Institutional support

Do you have it?

Can you talk directly to your library director? Need to inform or train the directors about the programme? DLI role?

Ways DLI can help with institutional support.

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Discussion: dlilist

Why do some contacts never write to the list? Should this be a cause for concern? If yes, what can we do about it?

Why do a little more than 20% of contacts never query dlilist? Is this a cause for concern? If yes, what can we do about it?

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Discussion: Products and services

Is there a need for more information on products and services that are rarely or never accessible, such as reports and reference documents, product dissemination dates, the list of survey names and acronyms?

Suggestions for improving the ftp site?

Discussion: Competencies

• For your category of establishment, what competencies are most critical to the role you play?

• Think of competencies you lack and would like to have.

• What competencies and training will be required?

• Bring your ideas regarding competencies and training to the "train the trainers" workshop ...

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Thank you to DLI contacts and designates for their participation in this survey.