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Data collaboration in Ontario: Some practical issues. March 26, 2007 Toronto. Agenda. Taxonomy Conversion – timeline, process, and tools Eliminating duplicate records Working in French and English InformOntario's new Naming Standard Next steps in Ontario data standards.
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Data collaboration in Ontario:Some practical issues March 26, 2007Toronto
Agenda • Taxonomy Conversion – timeline, process, and tools • Eliminating duplicate records • Working in French and English • InformOntario's new Naming Standard • Next steps in Ontario data standards
Why the Canadian Taxonomy of Human Services? • Based on AIRS/INFO LINE Taxonomy of Human Services • Foundation for 211 and database collaboration • Pan-Canadian and bilingual • Detailed definitions for precise searching • 8600 terms help bridge gaps between service sectors, encouraging collaboration • Hierarchical structure facilitates comparison of referral statistics for reporting purposes • Existing Canadian (and some Ontario) users, ongoing editorial and administrative support
Taxonomy Project to date • English language Canadian version of the Taxonomy completed in 2006 with pan-Canadian input • French language work has begun and will be completed end of 2007 • Sublicensing agreement between 211LA County (INFO LINE) and InformCanada signed • 211Ontario.ca project supporting conversion in Ontario (40 local data partners with 60,000 programs) • Interface in CIOC completed to handle both English and French Taxonomy versions
Ongoing maintenance • InformCanada will be official custodian and steward for the Canadian Taxonomy • Ongoing English and French editors working with editorial groups and the 211LA editor • Eventual goal of 211LA is to create endowment to support Taxonomy and make it available free to any subscriber • Estimated annual cost in Canada $80,000 ($ from subscriptions, special projects, in-kind donation of staff)
Next steps • Complete French language version in 2007 • Manage Ontario conversion process by March 2008 • Encourage adoption in other parts of Canada • Will become a standard for 211 in Canada as in the U.S. • Explore interest expressed by various parts of municipal, provincial and federal governments
Conversion in Ontario • RFP process complete, recipients notified, funds out in May • Taxonomy business plan approved by InformCanada, allowing for bulk subscriptions to be covered for Ontario subscribers for 2007, low introductory subscription rate bundled with AIRS/InformCanada/InformOntario memberships from 2008-2010 • Subscription page at InformCanada website to be completed in April
Ontario conversion timeline • Training the trainers – tomorrow! • Taxonomy “starter set” - April • Taxonomy data loaded into CIOC: early May • Regional workshops: mid-May/mid-June • We begin! mid-June 2007 • We finish! March 2008
Support during conversion • AIRS online Taxonomy introduction course (www.airs.org) • Help to install the Taxonomy xml file into the CIOC interface • Regional workshops • Ontario starter set of about 1200 terms • Thesaurus to Taxonomy manual crosswalk • Discussion board for posing problems and finding joint solutions • 9-5 phone helpdesk during conversion (June 2007-March 2008)
Demonstration of tools • Taxonomy section on partners web site - demo • Taxonomy discussion boards - demo • Ontario Starter Taxonomy - demo • Crosswalk reference guide - demo • Help Desk – demo? • CIOC software - demo
Taxonomy process • Once data is loaded into software and people are trained, then . . . • work section by section? • work record by record? • mixture of the above?
Taxonomy contacts John Allec, Manager, Information Resources Findhelp Information Services 416-392-4572 jallec@findhelp.ca Corinne Gallois, Coordinator, French Services Findhelp Information Services 416-392-4698 cgallois@findhelp.ca Deb Woods, Taxonomy Project Manager 705-721-0736 deborahwoods@rogers.ca
2. Eliminating Duplicates • 30% of our records duplicate our neighbours’ records • 211Ontario.ca uses a simple geographic method to choose records • Taxonomy: only convert your “local” set • Spring 2008: multi-way sharing . . . and the deletion of the 30%! • via Findhelp? • via regional file sharing?
Eliminating Duplicates • Nov 2006: Findhelp exported 14 test records • feedback? • 2007: exchange among data partners to be two-way (import/export) • CIOC XML Sharing Format makes it easy • But CIOC users need an Import Server in Halton!
Eliminating Duplicates • CIOC Import allows control over fields • e.g. Findhelp maintains PUB field, MEMO field and French views for certain partners • Helps with standardization • Naming Standard • Style Guide • Data partners website
3. Working in French and English • Findhelp committed to expanding bilingual capabilities in 2003-2006 strategic plan, has increased French-speaking editors, is translating more copies of partner records, and is exporting translated records back to data partners for partial local maintenance
French • The Community Information Centre of Ottawa, in collaboration with FH, has developed a concept paper for a Provincial Language Support Centre, to provide French information and editorial materials, in support of the provincial I&R network
French • Request: that all Ontario CIOC data partners turn on bilingual capability
French • New section on data partners website - demo • Glossary of words and phrases in French and English - demo • Develop collaborative partnerships with French data providers, and provincial language support centre • FH can provide French capability for partners (at least until March 2009) • New 211 French interface mixes English and French – demo IPS test site
4. Ontario Naming Standard • Developed by Information Resources Working Group, adopted by InformOntario in 2006 • Key change to upper/lower case for agency names implemented 2006 • Timeline for overall implementation being developed
Naming Standard • The basics • Multi-level services • Government services • Arm’s length organizations • Punctuation and style • Acronyms • AKAs and Former names
5. Next steps: InformOntario Standards: • InformOntario is a project partner, and will assume responsibility for I&R data standards • Three year plan to review need for Ontario data standards and review InformOntario accreditation with a focus on community data
Standards: InformOntario • InformOntario will provide chair for IO Data Standards Committee • The committee will focus on the 211Ontario.ca project, and broader standards for I&R • Committee terms of reference will be finalized in April and committee will be convened
Ontario Style Guide • AIRS Style Guide released last month, will be template for InformOntario Style Guide • Volunteers?!
The End Thank you for sharing!