Issues in the Transfer of Help Tools to Government Agencies: The Example of the Statistical Interactive Glossary (SIG) Stephanie W. Haas School of Information and Library Science University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Supported by NSF grant EIA Gov Stat

Find what you need Understand what you find An important goal of the Statistical Knowledge Network (SKN) is to give users an integrated view of the agencies’ information. Advantages include sharing, rather than duplicating, help resources among agencies. BUT, still need to maintain agencies’ identity, while recognizing overlaps, similarities, and differences among the information they provide. This presentation uses the SIG templates and presentations as an example in exploring these issues. We’ll continue the exploration in a discussion session at the May 14, 2004 meeting.

Features of the Statistical Interactive Glossary (SIG) Presentations of statistical term definitions in a variety of formats. Explanations can be tailored for specific contexts (e.g., agency concepts or statistics). Template for structure of explanations. Template for development and delivery of animated explanations. Allow agency experts to focus on content development, not mechanics of construction. Presentations become part of the SKN.

Possible relationships between agencies and terms (1) AGENCY TERM Term is used by one agency; has only one definition. Example: aged unit, used by SSA.

Possible relationships between agencies and terms (2) AGENCY TERM Term is used by more than one agency; has only one definition. Example: race and ethnicity, used by many agencies.

Possible relationships between agencies and terms (3) AGENCY DEFINITION-1 Term is used by one or more than one agency; has more than one definition. Term may be ambiguous within a single agency, and/or across agencies. Example: education levels. NCHS uses 2 definitions, one of which is from Current Population Survey (Census and BLS). NSF focuses on post-secondary levels. DEFINITION-2DEFINITION-3DEFINITION-4 TERM

Goals and Concerns as SIG is Transferred to Agencies From the users’ perspective (end user as well as agency user). Provide multiple views of SIG presentations –unified view as single collection –view of presentations relevant to specific agency –view of presentations relevant to specific information object (e.g., education as used in a specific table) –view of presentations relevant to specific term or concept (e.g., all definitions of “education”) –other views?

Find relevant presentations –linked to information objects –browsing through collection –other ways? Understand similarities and differences in meanings of terms that are ambiguous within and between agencies. Understand which meaning is appropriate for a specific use.

From the agency perspective (developers, other experts) Avoid duplication of effort; share presentations of shared terms, e.g. race/ethnicity –Leverage formal and informal connections among agencies –What is already in the collection? –How to link to an existing presentation? Create specialized presentation of a term for specific information contexts; utilize general pattern for explaining the term if one already exists –What is already in the collection?

Cooperate with other developers to create explanations of shared terms. –What other agencies use this term? –Do they all use the same definition of the term, or is it ambiguous? Update definitions, explanations as needed –Does anyone else link to this explanation? –Who (if anyone) “owns” the explanation?

Where are explanations stored? –on individual agencies’ sites –in a central repository Are there any constraints on linking to any presentation? Other concerns?

Three Possible Models Model 1: Agency creates presentations for own terms and definitions; stores them on own site. Model 2: Agency creates some general presentations, some specific presentations. Agencies cooperate on shared terms. Presentations are stored in central registry. Model 3: Combination of 1 & 2.

AGENCY P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P Each agency creates and stores its own presentations. How do they discover what the others have created? Can they link to others’ presentations? MODEL 1

AGENCY MODEL 2 REGISTRY P P P P P P P P P P P Each agency stores presentations they create in central registry. Agencies link to the presentations they need. Easier to share; less likely to duplicate presentations.

AGENCY MODEL 3 REGISTRY P P P P P P P P P P P Some presentations stored in agencies, some in registry. Some sharing of presentations. Can agencies link to others’ presentations? How do they discover what already exists?

Discussion: How best to Present users with needed variety of views? Avoid duplication of effort; promote sharing presentations where possible? Leverage formal and informal connections and areas of overlapping information between agencies? Integrate with existing glossaries? Extend these ideas to other kinds of help tools? Other concerns about providing help? Other help topics that need investigation?