UN-ECE Work Session on Statistical Dissemination and CommunicationWarsaw, Poland, 13-15 May 2009

Ulrich Wieland, Eurostat

Statistics Explained – a new way of collaboration

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Statistics Explained

A new way to disseminate statistical analysis and background information electronically

A new way of collaboration

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The problem

Large amounts of value-added content available in publications

Production process for publications is very cumbersome Publications do not easily reach the audience

-> The Eurostat management committee asked for more effective ways of dissemination

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The solution

Using Wiki for content creation Collaborative approach Same software as Wikipedia (Mediawiki) A procedure for content validation

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The governance

Balance between efficient cooperative working and the need to control the content

Updating by all Eurostat staff Validation of layout, language, structure, readability etc.

by the dissemination unit Validation of content by the competent statistical unit All changes are traced

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New workflow

Somebody in Eurostat creates/changes a page Validation by dissemination unit; correction of layout,

language etc. if needed Validation by the statistical unit if a major content

change has been made by somebody of a different unit If ok, dissemination.

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The content of Statistics Explained

Statistical articles: presenting and explaining statistics

Background pages: Explanations of statistical concepts or definitions in a popular way

Three-layer model for users

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REST OF THE INTERNET EUROSTAT (+ EC) WEB SITEStatistics Explained

Google Foreground area Statistical area Background area

(navigation aids)

External link CODEDStatistical article

Bookmark Introduction Glossary RAMON Themes tree Contents (short definition)

1 Main statistical findings

2 Data sources and availability ESMS fileCategories 3 Context

4 Further Eurostat information

4.1 Links to publications, data Background article EUR-LexSearch 5 External links (detailed description)

6 See also

Categories

Metadata

Publication

Main table Database

External website

deep link if possible

ECBData

SpecialistsInterested non-specialistsGeneral public

(simplified metadata)

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Current status

The project has been approved by the Eurostat Management Board

The content of the Eurostat yearbook and various other publications has been integrated

Currently, the statistical units are checking and revising the content

Opening to the public is planned before Summer Integration with the Eurostat website needs still to

be done

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First experiences

Most people react very positively to the new system Some concerns exist concerning the control of the

content Training to end users needs to be organised, both on

structural and on technical issues While text changes can be done by virtually everybody,

changing tables, graphs and hyperlinks needs basic technical know-how

The coherence of the overall structure need to be watched

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Expectations

A much faster and a more efficient way of disseminating value-added content

A much better use of the analytical and contextual information available in Eurostat

Better integration of all Eurostat output (data, analysis, methodology, cross-cutting topics, etc.)

Over time, substantial quality improvement of all Eurostat value-added output

Little development and maintenance cost

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Medium term developments

Future publications such as the Eurostat yearbook could be developed on the basis of the content of Statistics Explained

Archiving of Eurostat content could be done by regularly converting the Statistics Explained into a pdf file

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Contact

Ulrich WielandHead of Sector Publications EUROSTAT - Unit B6BECH A3-100European CommissionL-2920 LuxembourgTel. +352 4301 33644E-mail: ulrich.wieland@ec.europa.eu