IT’S NOT JUST A DOCUMENT:USING GOVERNMENT DATA

IN TEACHING AND RESEARCH

Marianne RyanMelissa OakesCathy Johnson

Charleston Conference November 2013

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“I just want it the way I want it.”

When Harry Met Sally

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When it was just a document . . .

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The past: The terminology of documents

• Report• Statement• Vote • List• Statistic• Graph• Table• Guide• Map

The past: The terminology of documents

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The present: A new vocabulary for changing research needs

• Data• Pattern• Text mining• Importing/exporting• Visualizing• Layering• Geo-referencing • Intersections• Manipulating

The present: A new vocabulary for changing research needs

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Supporting interdisciplinary emphases and connections

in·ter·dis·ci·plin·ary

adjective \-ˈdi-sə-plə-ˌner-ē\ : involving two or more academic, scientific, or artistic areas of knowledge : involving two or more disciplines

__________________________________________________Geography and Journalism Biology and Music

Art and Business Law and Psychology

French and Economics Theater and Environmental Studies

Engineering and Marketing Medicine and Urban Planning

Political Science and Philosophy Accounting and Linguistics

Supporting interdisciplinary emphases and connections

Generation Traditionals (Silents, Veterans) Boomers X-ers Millenials (Nexters)

Approximate Dates of Birth 1922-1943 (Pre-WWII) 1943-1960 1961-1980 1981-1999

Characteristics that influence information seeking

Accustomed to top-down flow of information

Formal Learning environment that is

stable

Formal Feedback Interactive and non-

authoritarian

Highly independent Entrepreneur Comfortable with change Raised with instant access Want frequent, immediate

feedback Self-directed Sample and learn by doing Not attracted to classroom

Globally concerned Diverse Cyber-literate Media Savvy Collaborative Multitaskers Teamwork Technology Multi-media

Information Seeking Like materials that are organized and summarized

Example: Reader’s Digest Dewey Decimal

Easy to scan format Example: Business

Week; USA Today; People

Prefer fewer words Don’t read as much Visual stimulation – headlines,

subheads, quotes, graphics, lists Example: Spin, Fast Company,

Wired, chat-room dialogue

Readers Lively and varied materials Chat (Instant Messaging) Search engine (Google)

Government Resources Government documents

Arranged by SuDoc number

Mediated expertise

Government publications

Supplementary finding aids

Microfiche compilations

Government information

CD-ROM databases Keyword searching Ability to cut and paste

Government content

Data Images Federated searching Ability to

manipulate

Adapted from the summary of Information Seeking and the Generations provided by Eileen Abels' at http://www.ala.org/rusa/sites/ala.org.rusa/files/content/sections/rss/rsssection/rrsscomm/virtualreferencecommittee/an07infoseekgen.pdf

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Northwestern University LibraryPublic Services Division (through 2009)

Northwestern University LibraryPublic Services Division (through 2009)

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Northwestern University LibraryRestructured Public Services Division (since 2010)Northwestern University Library

Restructured Public Services Division (since 2010)

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Northwestern University LibraryResearch & Information Services Department (since 2010)

Department Head

Departmental Program Assistant

Assistant Head/Research &

Information Services Dept

African American Studies Librarian

East Asian Studies Librarian

Latin American Studies Librarian (open position)

Collection Processing Assistant (1/2 time)

Principal Bibliographer

& Coordinator for General Studies

Humanities & Social Sciences Coordinator

Science Coordinator (dotted line, reports

through Branch & Off-Campus Services

Dept)

Assistant Head, Government &

Business Information -Geospatial & Data

Services

GIS/Data Specialist (open position)

Geospatial & Cartographic

Specialist

Business & Management

Collection Development Librarian

Business, Economics, & Data Librarian (open

position)

)

Government Information Librarian

Govt. Information Processing Assistant

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Now and in the Future:A New Way of Thinking About Government Documents

• Geographical place names…trends, charts, and map visualizations• Votes…vote comparisons and trends• Text…comparative text analysis• Words…word usage over time• Witness testimonies…track witness language• Witness affiliations…track by sector over time• Confirm a hypothesis…suggest a hypothesis

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Documents with Geographic References and…

1791

-180

0

1861

-188

0

1941

-196

00

10

20

30

40

Comparison of References to Seneca and Cherokee Signers of Treaties

Cornplanter

Nenetooyah

Do

cum

ents

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…Place-Related Trends Derived from Documents

1789

-180

0

1821

-183

0

1851

-186

0

1881

-189

0

1911

-192

0

1941

-195

0

1971

-198

0

2001

-201

30

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Cherokee Indians

Georgia

North Carolina

South Carolina

Tennessee

Kentucky

Virginia

Texas

Oklahoma

California

Do

cum

ents

1789

-181

0

1811

-183

0

1831

-185

0

1851

-187

0

1871

-189

0

1891

-191

0

1911

-193

0

1931

-195

0

1951

-197

0

1971

-199

0

1991

-201

30

500

1000

1500

2000

2500Seneca Indians

New York

Ohio

Pennsylvania

Indian Territory

Missouri

Kansas

Oklahoma

Do

cum

ents

Number of documents referencing Indian tribes with reference to specific geographic locations over time

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Comparing Nay Votes: Indian Vaccination Act of 1832/Swine Flu Vaccination Program of 1976

New E

nglan

d

Mid

Atlant

ic

South

Atla

ntic

East N

orth

Cen

tral

Wes

t Nor

th C

entra

l

East S

outh

Cen

tral

Wes

t Sou

th C

entra

l

Mou

ntain

Pacific

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Vaccination: Percent of "Nay" Votes Breakdown by Region

Year 1832

Year 1976

In 1832, 50% of the Nay Votes were from the South Atlantic States

New E

nglan

d

Mid

Atlant

ic

South

Atla

ntic

East N

orth

Cen

tral

Wes

t Nor

th C

entra

l

East S

outh

Cen

tral

Wes

t Sou

th C

entra

l

Mou

ntain

Pacific

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Percent of Member “Nay” Votes by Party Affiliation

Majority Party Year 1832

Minority Party Year 1832

Majority Party Year 1976

Minority Party Year 1976

Mid Atlantic States high percentage of Nay votes in 1832 and 1976

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Vaccine Programs: Comparing Document Language Over Time

Language Characterization

1832 1976 2009

Negative Hostile, bitter enemy, useless, dangerous

Dread looms watchfulcontinuing concern controversial

Death, big problem

Positive Benefit, advantage Better to be safe than sorry

Safeguarding life

Scientific/Medical Experiment, plague Papers, scientific journals, science, New England Journal of Medicine, compelling evidence, clinical trials

Public health, safety, physical health, pandemic

Money Money Million Dime, IOU, fiscal health, pocketbook, debt, fiscal year, billion

Government Constitutional power Administration’s implementation

Government manages constituents, Congress

Demographic groups Indians, Indian agents Children, various age-groups, elderly

Children, grandchildren, grandma, GuantanamoKhalid Sheik Mohammed

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Documents….Word Usage Over Time

Timeline Events:

1789-1810 1811-1830 1831-1850 1851-1870 1871-1890 1891-1910 1911-1930 1931-1950 1951-1970 1971-1990 1991-20130

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

Remedies for Disease

Antibiotic

Antiseptic

Vaccines

Disinfect

Leeches

Quarantine

Do

cum

ents

President Garfie

ld dies of sepsis 1881

Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin

1928

Salk vacc

ine teste

d 1952

An act to encourage vaccination

1813

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Tobacco and Smoking: Witness Affiliations by Sector Over Time

1878-1900 1901-1920 1921-1940 1941-1960 1961-1980 1981-2000 2001-20140

10

20

30

40

50

60

70Witness Affiliations: Smoking/

Tobacco/Cigar/Cigarette

anti-smoking

exporters

farmers

manufacturers

wholesale retail

union

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We haven’t quite made it past It’s not just a document

• Text mining opens up countless new applications for Congressional Content but at many libraries we are still struggling to get users to understand the value of congressional content

• STEM content in Congressional publications includes witness testimony, inserted material, Congressional Research Reports, GAO reports, Office of Technology Assessment reports, etc.

• ProQuest has provided search assistance for many years to help users to find word usage, language, issues, and trends in Congressional information

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Examples of research for a variety of disciplines

Discipline Researching document by document

Text mining

Health Antibiotic resistance – current scientific content from GAO in 2011

Reports about resistance to antibiotics from 1960 to current (impact of growth in the industry and introduction to animals)

Women’s Studies/Gender studies/Sociology

Rape (definitions and sentencing) CRS report 9/13

Rape –definitions and sentencing between 1888 and now

Political Science Terrorism – current topics Definition of terrorism in US History

Business Accounting/Depreciation Depreciation of tangible assets as defined by the federal govt – raw data

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Examples

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Future of text mining/analysis?

• Libraries vary on strategic plans to meet the needs of researchers• Licensing can be a tedious process• ProQuest has licensed some content to universities so they can

locally load the content and do text mining• ProQuest is in the process of holding focus groups to assess the

need of a service that would allow for this kind of analysis in Congressional content and Historical newspapers.

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catherine.johnson@proquest.com

melissa.oakes@proquest.com

marianne-ryan@northwestern.edu

Questions?