The Oregon Rural Communities Explorer: USER TUTORIAL

1. The Oregon Rural Communities Explorer:USER TUTORIAL

2. This tutorial will explain: What the Rural Communities Explorer is Where tools of the site are and how to use them How you (and others) can contribute content to the site

3. The Oregon Rural Communities Explorer www.oregonexplorer.info/rural A website that provides public access to reliable social, demographic, economic, and environmental information about Oregon’s rural counties and places For rural leaders, engaged residents, philanthropies, and program managers

4. 6 Modules of Tutorial Create data profile reports for communities Learn about rural communities & issues Make maps Access stories & research archives Find other resources available to the community Learn how OSU faculty and community members can contribute

5. Module 1: Create Profile Reports • Use The Oregon Communities Reporter Tool to get social, demographic, environmental, and economic data for all 723 (urban and rural) places and 36 counties in Oregon. • Data come from many sources including U.S. Census Bureau, other federal agencies, state agencies, and, soon to come, local agencies and research

7. Information & How-To

8. “Community” = Counties & Places “Places” = Census Tracts & Census Designated Places Now you’re ready! Type community Select community from map

9. Create a new report in this same window 17 Clusters: click to expand Print (recommended) or download report Click variable name for definition and source Click for charts

10. Module 2: Learn about Rural Communities & Issues • Use the “Learn About A Community” & “Learn About A Rural Issue” pages to find out about the causes, consequences, and significance of environmental, demographic, economic, and social issues • Use the Community Model to think about how communities work and change from a “systems perspective”

12. Broad definition of community

13. Definition of “place” To provide better access to data, unincorporated places were assigned census tract boundaries ** Often a small town is located in the same census tract as other towns, therefore they will share the same data

14. Takes into account the people, the built & natural environment, and the social system in the community when considering development Information to move toward a systems perspective on community

15. 19 Rural Issues featured with research essays and information tools

16. Multimedia story about the many definitions of rural and how they impact our understanding of rural Oregon

17. Topic definition and data tool at start Followed by an overview of the rural slant on the issue

18. Module 3: Making Maps • Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to map issues across the state (by county, census tract, watershed, etc.) will help you: • Target money and effort on the places that have need • Identify communities with similar issues that could work together or learn from each other • See how different areas of Oregon face different problems and have different assets

21. Many, many map “layers” to turn on and off

22. Click on layer name for definition and source

24. Ask the map for more information about a point Zoomed in on Bend, OR area

25. Print or download your customized map The map tells you about the point you clicked on (using the “Identify Visible” tool) with all the layers that are on top of it

26. Module 4: Access Stories & Research Archives • Stories are written and submitted by community members to the “Life in Oregon’s Rural Communities” Story Competitionand by OSU students • Research is written by OSU faculty and community members and archived into ScholarsArchive@OSU • ScholarsArchive@OSU is Oregon State University's digital service for gathering, indexing, making available and storing the scholarly work of the Oregon State University community. It also includes materials from outside the institution in support of the university's land, sun, sea, and space grant missions and other research interests.

29. Browse by Collection Search by community names, issues, or type of work

30. Module 5: Access Other Resources • Use data tools, issue expert database, organization guides, and social networks to access: • More data and better analysis tools • Experts who can help assess and explain community issues • Partners and allies • Other engaged rural Oregonians

31. Data Tools Issue Experts Organizations & Social Networks

32. Data Tools • Tools to come: • Data quality assessment • Statistical interpretation • Data analysis

33. Issue Experts

34. Local Organizational Resources Click on a County Access Rural Development Initiative’s Social Networking Site

35. Module 6: How can you contribute? • Through ScholarsArchive@OSU • Write and archive reports about rural issues • Send to Lena Etuk for archival with: Title, Author Name, Abstract, 4 Keywords, Geography, Relation to Oregon Explorer Portals • Or archive them yourself • Submit organization names to “Local Resources”

37. http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/dspace/

38. Describing your submission

39. Uploading the file

40. Add your organizational resource Send Lena Etuk, at Oregon State University, your organization’s web address and a short description

41. Congratulations, you have completed the online tutorial for the OR Rural Communities Explorer!Now you’re ready to explore Oregon’s communities!