CANSIM A look at 3 interfaces

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CANSIM A look at 3 interfaces

• Dli Training
• University of Guelph
• April 12, 2006
• Suzette Giles, Data, Map and GIS Librarian
• Ryerson University Library

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A look at Stat. Can. website, E-Stat and CHASS

• Where?
• What?
• Access
• Content
• Searching

• Results
• Visualization
• Manipulation
• Output formats
• Which to use?

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Imitation is the sincerest flatterySources

• Statistics Canada About CANSIM
• http//www.statcan.ca/english/ads/cansimII/ind
  ex.htm
• Statistics Canada E-STAT
• http//estat.statcan.ca/content/English/over.s
  html
• University of Toronto CHASS CANSIM information
• http//00dc1.chass.utoronto.ca/cansim2/English/in
  dex.html
• University of Toronto Data Library Services
  http//www.chass.utoronto.ca/datalib/codebooks/cst
  dli/cansim.htm

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Where is CANSIM??

• Statistics Canada home page
• Click on Advanced search
• Search CANSIM is in left hand menu
• OR Click on Our Products and Services
• CANSIM is under Access our Online databases
• E-STAT
• Left hand menu of Table of Contents page
• CHASS Google or go via University of Torontos
  Data Library Service page CHASS interface to
  selected databases

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What is CANSIM?

• CANSIM is Statistics Canada's key socio-economic
  database. (Stat Can website)
• CANSIM Canadian Socio-Economic Information
  Management System. (CHASS)
• CANSIM is a multidimensional database containing
  more than 26 million time series regrouped in
  over 2,400 tables E-STAT April 4, 2006

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CANSIM I and CANSIM II

• CANSIM I Original CANSIM database consisting
  of 908,879 time series in 9,380 matrices.
  Contains matrices and time series not in CANSIM
  II. Series start with a letter followed by
  numbers (called a label) Last updated June 1,
  2002. (CHASS)
• CANSIM II (CANSIM). Reorganized database.
  Matrices called Tables. Time series all start
  with a V, sometimes called a vector or a label
  (CHASS)

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Timing!!

• NOTICE The CANSIM service will be unavailable
  most of this coming weekend, from 7PM (Eastern
  time) Friday April 7 to approximately 7PM Sunday
  April 9, because of a major database
  reconfiguration.

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Access
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Content
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NOTES

• When a method of measurement or definition or an
  attribute or concept changes, the old series is
  terminated, and a new series with a new series
  identifier is begun. (CANSIM the many faces,
  UT/DLS)
• When SIC 1980 was changed to NAICS 1997 series
  were terminated and new ones begun. This explains
  the limited time line of the NAICS series

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Content (CANSIM II)
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Searching
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Searching
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NOTES Searching/ Results

• CHASS - get listing of series unless search by
  Table number
• Stat Can - get listing of Tables unless search by
  Series number
• Therefore difficult to compare retrieval
• PETS CHASS got 60 series (82 with carPETS)
• PETS Stat Can got 5 tables did not include
  carpets
• Important to check Match full keyword in
  CHASS

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Results
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Results
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Results
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NOTES

• Notes from Chris Leowskis presentation in 2002
• CANSIM II vector numbers not recycled when a
  series terminated. In CANSIM I they were.
• No frequency conversion in the CHASS CANSIM II,
  this is not a CHASS priority.
• Badly need a way of pointing users to series that
  replace terminated series and vice versa.

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Visualisation of results
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Manipulation of Results
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Output formats
Choice of time as columns or rows
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Choosing which to use

• Currency Daily vs. weekly vs. yearly
• Ease of searching pick lists in Stat. Can.
  helpful
• Sophistication of user list of series can make
  finding data difficult with CHASS interface
• Frequently used series are fast in CHASS
• Could use Stat Can interface to find series and
  then go to CHASS to get most recent data
• Output required CHASS has more formats for
  statistical packages
• Data manipulation required
• Data visualisation required

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Statistics Canada Search page
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Statistics Canada Search results
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Statistics Canada Series selection
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Statistics Canada selecting Dimension members
and dates
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CHASS Selection options
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CHASS Keyword search
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CHASS Results page
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CHASS Series information
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CHASS Retrieval, date and output selection
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CHASS Display of data
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E-STAT Search CANSIM
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E-STAT Text search
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E-STAT Advanced search
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E-STAT Search results
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E-STAT Series selection
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E-STAT selecting Dimension members and dates
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E-STAT output options
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E-STAT HTML table, time as rows
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(No Transcript)
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Search done on topic Pets in CANSIM II, CHASS
interface