­­The Data Dude recently attended the SDC (State Data Coordinator) conference in Louisville, KY. The Dude votes thumbs up on the conference sessions, the city of Louisville (its all about horses and bourbon), and the invaluable time spent with colleagues from other states. The Dude votes thumbs down on flight delays and the anxiety producing craziness of the typical airport. The purpose in writing today is to explore what data elements are important to you, the actual people that capture and record these statistics on the annual public library survey (affectionately known to many as the “Bibliostat One” and unaffectionately known as many other things).  Are there statistics you are collecting that you think might be important on a state or national level? Please let me know, or even let me know some general ideas or thoughts you might be having, so they might be explored further or built upon. A few things were discussed at the SDC conference that are worth noting and might jog your ability to collaborate creatively. Number one: Virtual library visits. As physical visits may be declining, it probably is important to track virtual visitors to the library (e.g. visitors to the library website). Some states already collect this data. Does your library track this information? If so, does it underline the importance of your website, and perhaps more importantly, keeping it updated?

Secondly, how many of you use non-pc devices? The thing that immediately comes to mind would be the 3D printer; however, what about other non-pc devices such as tablet computers? I know many libraries make these available in lieu of the traditional PC. For those of you with tethered (or non-tethered) tablets, are you counting and reporting those now, or would this fit more appropriately under a separate data element called “non-pc devices”? With the recently concluded digital inclusion survey (Nebraska scored a stellar 64% response rate), how about broadband speed? I know of a few libraries that completed the speed test, looked at the low numbers and said, “wait a minute…”. They used this as a catalyst to talk to their ISP and found out they were getting the shaft (maybe intentionally, maybe not) when it came to what they were paying for. The point is that the DI Survey uncovered these gross injustices, and the librarians took action to remedy them. The question that remains is: Would actual speed reporting be beneficial, or are there simply too many variables in place to capture it accurately?

Furthermore, new library services that may be worth noting in data collection include self-directed education and local digital collections. Is there anything else on your list? I’ve already starting thinking about next year’s survey and perhaps some tools to help you with using the compiled data. Capturing uses of electronic resources continues to be problematic. There are numerous download services that libraries might subscribe to. If the library pays for it, and the virtual library visitor uses it, shouldn’t we somehow try to paint a picture of its use? Many of these things are currently lumped into the “database” bin and counted as boring ol’ “1”, simply because there is no other definition that they fit into. I wonder if instead of trying to write a definitino that captures all of these services, perhaps we should simply add a three part question to provide a more accurate portrayal: (1) Does your library subscribe to an electronic downloadable or streaming service; (2) if so, what is the name of the service; and (3) how many times does it get used in a year. The survey could provide a prompt to enter this information for each subscribed service and a separate element could do the calculations for the total uses of all downloadable services. Shaka.

For this week, let’s talk about mapping (there is now a mapping section on the data services portion of the NLC website). But first, a promise that this will be the last reminder for the Digital Inclusion Survey (except for maybe one final e-mail to you next week if you have not yet completed it). The deadline has been extended until December 12, 2014 and there are still Three Kindle Fire HD’s up for grabs if you complete the survey. Enter your contact information at the conclusion of the survey to be eligible for the drawing. Also, don’t forget to complete the speed test by going to www.speedtest.net from a public access terminal or laptop using the library Wi-Fi. Record the download speed, upload speed, and PING. Either enter the numbers into your survey, or e-mail them to me and I will enter the figures for you.

OK, on to the maps. Here at the Commission, a variety of mapping tools are used, including ZeeMaps, Google Fusion Tables, and Google Earth. Thanks to the help of Allana Novotny, things are looking up for understanding the complexities of these mapping tools. A word about collaboration: I mentioned Allana, and I think it’s safe to say had we not collaborated on these things, these maps either would not have gotten done or would not have had the same level of functionality. This has created a boost in my creative confidence  (and even analytical thought), and I’m grateful for that (thanks, Allana). On a similar note, if you look at the legislative map mentioned in the next paragraph and have suggestions, please let me know. While the Dude thinks his collaboration with Allana has been a good thing and produced some far out maps, there are other suggestions you might bring to the table, and that is always encouraged. Likewise, if you have ideas for an entirely different map illustration, please let the Dude know and he can possibly put something together for you. The Dude promises to at least try.

Anyway, the legislative map deserves a bit of explanation. The interactive map illustrates the legislative boundaries in the state and has markers for each public library. You can certainly zoom in to your district (or any other district for that matter) for a more detailed look. If you click on one of the districts (but not a marker), a pop-up should appear that tells you the district number, the senator, and a link to the senator’s website. This information is updated with the newly elected senators. Keep in mind that the corresponding webpages might not yet be updated with the new senator names and photos and other stuff, because that is done by the Legislature, not the Library Commission. The zoomable map is especially helpful in the Lincoln or Omaha areas. The Dude added the branch locations for Lincoln and Omaha libraries. If you click on the individual markers for each library, you get a pop-up that provides you with some basic information about the library, legislative district, senator, and a link to more information from the library profile on the NLC website. The markers are colored by service population, and you can filter those by checking or unchecking boxes on the legend at the bottom.  The Dude hopes the map might be helpful to you.

Now, for a hint of what the Dude might currently be pondering for data illustrations: The motion chart. The Dude mentions this because of an interest generated after watching the interesting TED Talk by Hans Rosling. If you have a chance to, check it out (if for no other reason, the entertainment value of Hans going nuts over his data illustration) and feel free to give the Dude some ideas on how such a motion chart could be generated for Nebraska Libraries, or what data might be good to illustrate. This is in the brainstorming stage at this point, so feel free to provide some collaboration, or perhaps just an idea. The Dude welcomes a distraction from all these surveys. Shaka.