Given the strong connection between the theme of the 2010 International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) conference — open access to knowledge — and the Global Impact Study’s open research approach, we were pleased to present a poster about our inventory database and web application.

The poster — Open data and open tools: The Global Impact Study inventory and web application — authored by Chris Rothschild, Araba Sey, and Alexander Tulinsky, was presented by Chris Coward. The poster highlights the data users can view through the web application, such as location, ownership, internet access fees, and types of public access venues in Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Lithuania, and the Philippines. The poster also explores several delicate issues surrounding open research and open data, including privacy concerns, ethical issues, data validity, and conditions of use.

While this tool is primarily intended for researchers, many practitioners at IFLA thought it would be useful for them as well: “I wish this data and database existed for all countries!” But Chris Coward cautioned that the Global Impact Study did not set out to create a comprehensive database, nor should it be used as such. Rather, it is our hope that this tool, in the spirit of open research, will be beneficial and useful to researchers and practitioners alike.

For more information about the inventory database and web application you can download a PDF of the poster.

For more information about the inventory research activity, browse inventory updates.

Since we were trying to design an inventory data collection tool that would be usable in multiple countries, the effort required several months of collaboration amongst project members to reach agreement on issues such as what types of data to include in the inventory; definitions of telecenters, internet cafés and libraries; and how to account for unique features of public access ICT venues in different countries. For example, some people describe telecenters as  donor or publicly-funded computing venues that provide free access to computers, while others define telecenters by their mission, that is, whether they have social rather than economic goals.

It has taken about 12 months to complete this process and we will have four distinct outputs:

1. A taxonomy that provides a common language for categorizing public access venues across countries
2. A template for data collection with detailed instructions
3. A database containing inventory data from Bangladesh, Chile and Lithuania
4. A report describing our experience in developing the inventory and some preliminary descriptive analyses of the data

Following our open research data approach, the database will be accessible online after the data have been cleaned and our researchers have had the opportunity to perform some analyses of the data. First versions of the inventory guidelines and data collection template are now available to anyone interested in replicating our process. We hope this tool will be useful to others performing similar activities. The first set of data for Bangladesh, Chile, and Lithuania will be available in early 2010. Research teams in Brazil and the Philippines will begin data collection by January 2010, and their data should be accessible in mid 2010.

Download the inventory guidelines and spreadsheet.

Our next steps are to finish cleaning the data, test the database, and develop a system to enable yearly updating of the data by researchers in each country.

The inventory will help quantify what is being studied and differentiate venues for survey design and data analysis. It is intended to capture the data that exist for facilities that are currently operating, not those planned for the future.

The taxonomy will allow for understanding of facility type without having to assign a nomenclature that may vary in definition across countries. It aims to provide data from which facilities can be mapped and selected for in-depth research. The taxonomy can be divided into two distinct parts: global and local.  Inputs that go into both taxonomies will be obtainable solely from existing administrative data for all facilities with a high confidence. They will also provide a high-level description of the venue.

The global taxonomy is composed of a discrete set of fields that cannot be adjusted in order to make the taxonomy extensible when we add new countries (ideally, a model for any country in the world).

The local taxonomy, however, will allow researchers to include data unique to their countries and vital to understanding facilities. Examples include type of NGO or the presence of infomediary services.  Although these types of data will not be universally applicable (and thus not appropriate for the global taxonomy), they may nonetheless hold high-level importance within the country context.  Again, this assumes that these data can be collected from existing sources with a high level of confidence (i.e., without any additional surveys) and will be available for all venues.  (See the PowerPoint presentation with instructions for the local taxonomy.)

Country Research Teams will submit completed templates by November 21, 2008.  We will then input the data into a data depository repository, which will likely be open to the public by early 2009.

An important aspect of the inventory is a taxonomy to allow understanding of facility type without having to assign a nomenclature that may vary in definition across countries. A main intent of the taxonomy is that it will provide data from which facilities can be mapped and selected for in-depth research. Inputs that go into the taxonomy will

• Be able to be obtained solely from existing administrative data for all facilities with high confidence
• Provide a high-level description of the venue
• Be extensible when we add new countries (ideally, a model for any country in the world — this portion is referred to as the global taxonomy)

To capture details not included in the global taxonomy that country researchers feel are essential for high-level understanding of facilities within their country contexts, researchers can additionally create a country-specific taxonomy. These data will be centrally stored with other high-level administrative data.

Country Research Teams and the Research Working Group are currently reviewing and commenting on a model inventory and taxonomy .

• View the model inventory
• See the model global taxonomy