ONE-MAN BAND
One Man's Quest to Disseminate Data Online

"I believe the single greatest benefit from running my site using the Beyond 20/20 Web Data Server is improved productivity, both for myself and for my department. By making data available in multidimensional tables on the Internet, I not only give my clients the freedom to access school system data on their own, but I provide them with the tools they need to fully understand it."

Engin Konanc, Chief Data Consultant
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

For Engin Konanc, requests for data extraction were becoming a greater load than he could endure. As chief data consultant in the Statistical Research and Data Center of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Engin receives regular requests for both simple and complex data extraction. Requests can vary greatly - anywhere from annual student graduation data in North Carolina, to per capita expenditures for children in each county. Engin must somehow balance these requests with the colossal task of managing and analyzing data that is delivered to him in all formats, from all different platforms.

Many groups of people call on Engin to extract data. There are the reporters who need data quickly for a story, and the legislative offices that request information for decision-making purposes. Others include NCDPI employees who need to pepper speeches and written proposals with quantitative data, college students who are conducting research, and members of the general public. Engin was spending over 35 percent of his time extracting data and providing it to everyone who asked for it.

Reducing the load…

Engin began to search for a way to reduce the number of incoming requests, so he could focus on more complex data-extraction tasks. He thought an online solution might be the answer. If data users could simply go to a Web site and access the data they needed, he would receive less incoming calls. The real challenge was in making the data accessible in an easy-to-use format, to prevent an overload of calls for technical help. Overcoming this challenge would mean the elimination of several steps, both for him and for his data users.

To identify the right solution, Engin defined several key criteria that had to be met.

• First, the solution had to be easy to access and capable of disseminating data to a wide range of users.
• The technology had to be intuitive, so it would be easy for users to quickly extract the data they were looking for.
• If users were accessing the data on their own, it had to be fully documented with definitions, descriptions, and footnotes of data sources, to prevent misuse of the data.
• The solution had to be easy to maintain, so Engin would not replace one time-consuming problem with another.
• Data had to be easy for users to manipulate, or as Engin says, to "slice and dice the data in any way, with no more than a point and click."
• Once their data was formatted, users needed to able to download it to a desktop or export it to other popular tools.

The search for a solution…

Engin examined several alternatives. The simplest solution was to place HTML tables on a web site for users to view. However, HTML tables are time-consuming to create, require regular updates, and are "dead" tables - they offer no tools to manipulate the data. Another option was to make the data available for download in PDF or Microsoft Excel files, but like HTML, these solutions are inflexible and they offer minimal capabilities for data manipulation.

Engin immediately discarded the idea of developing a solution internally, because once complete the system would have had to be maintained and it would quickly become outdated. Developing systems internally is an expensive option in the long term.

Finally, Engin looked at the range of available off-the-shelf software solutions, many of which allow more flexibility than HTML or downloadable files. They would also be able to provide regular upgrades and technical support. Engin decided this was the type of solution he needed.

Solution: Beyond 20/20 Web Data Server

Among the many solutions he considered was the Beyond 20/20 Web Data Server (WDS). Unlike other software, he found that WDS provided easy-to-use tools for data users to access, manipulate and view numeric data. Most systems require users to perform complicated procedures to extract data, and they call for extensive end-user training. Because many of his clients were occasional data users, it didn't make sense for Engin to spend all his time training each person.

With WDS, Engin could quickly create and customize a Web site where he could place as many multidimensional tables as he needed to answer his users' questions. Users could easily access the site and view the tables, with minimal involvement from Engin and his staff.

Besides being accessible and intuitive, Engin also realized that WDS met his other criteria. Regarding the system's ability to fully document data, Engin says "With Beyond 20/20, you can put a note on practically anything." Also, WDS allows users to manipulate, drill down, and change the appearance of tables so they can better understand what they are looking at. With a simple mouse click, users can create colorful graphs and charts, adding enormous value to their work.

Beyond 20/20's solution was also the most cost-effective. The Statistical Research and Data Center received a task order - a grant allocated based on competitive selection - from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Using Beyond 20/20 has proven so cost effective that over three years, Engin only had to ask NCES for half of the money allocated to him for the project.

Now that North Carolina's public school system data is fully implemented (as ESAS - Education Statistics Access System), its main users - the media, the employees, the students, the legislative councils, and the general public - can build their own tables on demand and access the data they need in the instant they need it. Without calling Engin first.