Week one | Week two | Week three | Week four | Week five | Week six| Week seven | Week eight |

Week nine | Week ten | Week eleven | Week twelve | Week thirteen | Tutorials |Data sets |

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The goal of this course is to teach students how to find and negotiate for data that is already publicly available, or must be obtained formally or informally through access to information. We will analyse the information using the following: Excel; the data-visualization tools, Tableau Public, Google’s Fusion Tables; the document-annotation software called DocumentCloud; and the mapping program called ArcMap.

Taken together, these skills comprise computer-assisted reporting, also known as data journalism. Our textbook will be, “Computer-Assisted Reporting: A Comprehensive Primer”.

At the end of this term, students will become adept searching for information, analyzing the material for story ideas, or for questions that could lead to stories. They’ll learn how to use Excel to spot trends, and employ data-visualization and mapping programs to show the patterns and allow readers to interact with the material, such as being able to identify the income level or levels of crime in their neighbourhood.

As well, they’ll be taught how to perform spatial joins, allowing them to, for instance, see how many income groups, federal contaminated sites, oil spills, construction projects, discarded needles and syringes and government grants fall within certain municipal, provincial and federal electoral boundaries. These matches, and more importantly the story ideas that are produced, can only be obtained using mapping software ArcMap and Qgis.

For instance, spatial joins have allowed journalists such as the Ottawa Citizen’s Glen McGregor to tell the story about the bodies of water protected under the Harper government’s Navigable Waters Protection Act that are in or near federal Conservative ridings. Working with census data, we will also learn how to map variable such as income level, much the same way The Gazette’s Robero Rocha did to help readers visualize the median household income. He also used data to show the locations of several police radar cameras, how many tickets and fines each one collected, and street-level photographs of their locations.The assignments, or stories, will be submitted as blogs in WordPress that will allow for a multi-media treatment. Documents used as reference material will be uploaded to the account that will be created for you in DocumentCloud, annotated, and then embedded into the blogs.

Though it’s designed to be a data-journalism-focused research methods course, there will also be a with a heavy emphasis on storytelling, both with words and data in interactive maps and charts. As such, we will begin each class with a story that has appeared in the news: either as an example of how data journalism was used, or how it could have been used. These discussions and the exercises will help students develop new analytical and storytelling skills, driven by data. In addition to our textbook, we will also use tutorials to drive home some of the key Excel and mapping skills that will form the course’s backbone.

The course will be divided up into four, three-week modules. Each module will teach the following skills:Excel; Fusion Tables, Tableau Public; ArcMap/Qgis.

There will be three assignments ( please see chart below ), building to a final assignment that combines all the skills we’ve learned during the semester. At the end of each of the four modules, there will be an in-class tests worth five percent each.

Our textbook will be Computer-Assisted Reporting: A Comprehensive Primer, which is stocked at the Carleton library.

Examples stories using data journalism

Women charged after plane disruption prompts military escort http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/plane-gets-military-escort-after-passengers-disrupt-flight/article20231266/#dashboard/alerts

WestJet has ‘little tolerance’ for intoxicated flyers (The Globe and Mail)http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/westjet-has-little-tolerance-for-intoxicated-flyers/article20290565/#dashboard/alerts

To download disruptive passenger stories, please click here

Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System (CADORS): Main Menu http://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/Saf-Sec-Sur/2/cadors-screaq/m.aspx

To download the CADORS disruptive passenger Excel file, please click here

This fire hydrant costs Toronto drivers the most in parking tickets (The Canadian Press and Globe and Mail editorial) http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/08/11/this_fire_hydrant_costs_toronto_drivers_the_most_in_parking_tickets.html http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/editorials/vote-fire-hydrant-for-mayor/article20102235/#dashboard/follows/

Pipeline map: Have there been any incidents near you? (CBC News) http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/pipeline-incidents/

Korea: Mapping the dead of Canada’s forgotten war (Global News) http://globalnews.ca/news/938142/korea-mapping-dead-canadas-forgotten-war/

A question of life and death.’ Grieving kin call for median barrier on Waterloo expressway http://www.therecord.com/news-story/4047409–a-question-of-life-and-death-grieving-kin-call-for-median-barrier-on-waterloo-expressway/

Toronto data reveals hundreds of discarded syringe http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/08/15/toronto_data_reveals_hundreds_of_discarded_syringes.html

The Windsor Star’s data desk http://www.windsorstar.com/news/data-desk/index.html

After federal changes to waterways rules, 90 per cent of protected lakes lap on Conservative shores (The Ottawa Citizen) http://www.ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/movie-guide/After%2Bfederal%2Bchanges%2Bwaterways%2Brules%2Bcent%2Bprotected%2Blakes%2BConservative%2Bshores/7466027/story.html

A new view of Edmonton (Edmonton Journal) http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/living-on-the-edge/index.html

Battleground B.C.: Election Trends (The Vancouver Sun) http://www.vancouversun.com/news/electiontrends.html

A new view of Edmonton (Edmonton Journal) http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/living-on-the-edge/index.html

Battleground B.C.: Election Trends (The Vancouver Sun) http://www.vancouversun.com/news/electiontrends.html

Federal Parolees Per Capita (The Vancouver Sun) http://www.vancouversun.com/news/parolees-capita.html

Explore the data: Toronto bicycle collisions mapped over 25 years (The Globe and Mail) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/explore-the-data-toronto-bicycle-collisions-mapped-over-25-years/article543684/

Interactive Map: Explore the data behind Toronto’s working poor (The globe and Mail) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/interactive-map-explore-the-data-behind-torontos-working-poor/article2332885/

METHADONE AND THE POLITICS OF PAIN (The Seattle Times) http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/flatpages/specialreports/methadone/methadoneandthepoliticsofpain.html

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

1) How to dig for gold in cyberspace

2) How to use a spreadsheet to analyze statistics

3) How to create a pivot table

4) How to use advanced functions in Excel

5) How to use technical skills such as exporting tables from pdfs into Excel

6) How to advance your numeracy skills

7) How to use Fusion Tables

8) How to use Tableau Public

9) How to use ArcMap and Qgis

10) How to conduct spatial joins to discover trends and display data

11) How to become effective storytellers using data-journalism techniques

GRADES

We will be using a 12-point grading scale with the marks to be as follows, meaning the final mark will be out of 120 with the following breakdown:

A+ = 12

A= 11

A-= 10

B+ = 9

B= 8

B-=7

C+=6

C=5

C-=4

COMMUNICATIONS WITH STUDENTS

This will be done primarily through email correspondence and phone calls, given that I do not have an office at Carleton. The protocol will dictate that emailed queries will be answered as promptly as possible, usually within the hour. As such, it will be important for you to regularly check your email account for updates regarding assignments, new data sets or class work. You’ll also be required to use your Carleton account.

PROFESSIONALISM

We’ll conduct ourselves as professional journalists. That means attending class, showing up on time; being prepared and ready to make a meaningful contribution based on the preparation work you’ve been assigned; paying attention to your instructor and colleagues and ignoring email correspondence, Facebook, text messages, Twitter, and promptly responding to emails from the instructor. You’ll also be expected to stay on top of current events, which is part of your obligation as a journalist. If you must miss class, please communicate with the instructor via email.

If it’s for a medical reason, then you may be required to provide a doctor’s note. If it’s for an internship, then you’ll have to provide details.

REQUIRED SUPPORT RESOURCES

The course would be taught in the TV computer lab, using the overhead projector. As the school possesses an ArcMap licence, we are be able to use the mapping software, which is installed on the desktops. The library’s Maps, Data and Government Information Centre is well positioned to provide support to faculties including journalism and communications.

OUTLINE

Week One(TOP) – Sept. 10

Introduction to the course.

Downloading datasets from websites and sorting and filtering them for trends.

Read chapter three of Computer-Assisted Reporting.

Reading: Chapters 1-3

Links:

Why your phone is suddenly full of explainer journalism (The Globe and Mail) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/why-your-phone-is-suddenly-full-of-explainer-journalism/article20294501/#dashboard/follows/

To find a running inventory of digital news sites, please click here

Research chat: Sarah Cohen of the New York Times on the state of data journalism and what reporters need to know (Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy) http://journalistsresource.org/skills/reporting/research-chat-new-york-times-sarah-cohen-state-data-journalism-what-reporters-need-know#sthash.0BaqiTek.dpuf

To obtain an inventory of open data government websites, please click here

NICAR http://www.ire.org/nicar/

Lawson vows action on sexual assaults, but military behind on reporting criminal stats http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/lawson-vows-action-on-sexual-assaults-but-military-behind-on-reporting-criminal-stats-1.1840321

Judge advocate general annual reports http://www.forces.gc.ca/en/about-reports-pubs-military-law/index.page

Ottawa Police Crime Stats http://www.ottawapolice.ca/en/crime/crime-stats.asp

Tories write off $4B in 2012-13 (The Ottawa  Citizen) http://www2.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/archives/story.html?id=2a218191-3759-4041-a1fe-2bb0b5600678

Federal Public Accounts Summary Table (2012-2013) http://davidmckie.com/2013-vol2-eng%209.pdf

Public Accounts (Government-wide) http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pd-dp/gr-rg/index-eng.asp

WestJet has ‘little tolerance’ for intoxicated flyers (The Globe and Mail) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/westjet-has-little-tolerance-for-intoxicated-flyers/article20290565/#dashboard/alerts

You can also download a pdf version of Arik’s article by clicking here

Planes colliding with more birds (The Chronicle Journal)

Number of reported bird strikes at Windsor airport soars (The Windsor Star) http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2013/05/13/number-of-reported-bird-strikes-at-windsor-airport-soars/

Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System (CADORS): Main Menu http://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/Saf-Sec-Sur/2/cadors-screaq/m.aspx

To download the CADORS disruptive passenger Excel file, please click here

‘Sunshine list’ 2014: Ontario’s top public earners list released (CBC News) http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/sunshine-list-2014-ontario-s-top-public-earners-list-released-1.2590152

’Sunshine list’ includes salaries of key figures in gas plants scandal (Toronto Star) http://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2014/03/28/sunshine_list_includes_salaries_of_key_figures_in_gas_plants_scandal.htm

Public Sector Salary Disclosure 2014 (Disclosure for 2013) http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/publications/salarydisclosure/pssd/

Which public servants earned more than $100,000? Search Ontario’s ‘Sunshine List (The Globe and Mail) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/which-public-servants-earn-more-than-100000-search-the-sunshine-list/article17699726/#dashboard/alerts

To download a zip file of Transport Canada’s vehicle recall data, please click here

To download the CADORS tutorial, please click here

Week Two(TOP)Sept. 17

What we will cover

A review of our sorting and filtering and the creation of pivot tables

An introduction to using ratios

Using Cometdocs to crack PDFs

An introduction to DocumentCloud

Discussion of assignment due Sept 26

Links: 

Questionable arms exports up (The Canadian Press) https://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=17259

Canadian Import and Export Stats (Industry Canada) http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_mrkti/tdst/tdo/tdo.php#tag

UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA ‐ QUICK FACTS 2013 http://www.uottawa.ca/services/irp/docs/2013_QuickFactsEnglish.pdf

Cometdocs http://www.cometdocs.com/

Carleton University Fact Sheet http://www.carleton.ca/about/facts/

Enrolment By University http://www.aucc.ca/canadian-universities/facts-and-stats/enrolment-by-university/

DocumentCloud https://www.documentcloud.org

To download a 2014 version the sunshine list, please download here

Investigative Reporters and Editors http://www.ire.org/

To download the sunshine list tutorial, please click here.

Assignment

Submitted: A 600-word story based on the analysis of a dataset using Excel. The story can be any topic, but the idea MUST emerge from the data.

Submitted: A 500-word explanation of how you got the story, uploaded to your Google Docs file.

Submitted: And your Excel workbook, also uploaded to your Google Drive.

Required elements: The assignment must be uploaded to the category on our WordPress site that you will be assigned closer to the due date.

Required elements: Your story must have a chart that shows your trend and one other interactive elements such as a photo or document uploaded and annotated in DocumentCloud ( which we will learn ).

Required elements: You must have at least two interviews.

Q & A

1) Can it be any story? Yes, as long as it comes from a data set.

2) Can we work with a data sets we’ve already used in class? Yes, but it must be a different analysis. However, you are free to use any other data set from sources as such as the federal government’s open data site and the others that we’ve identified on my research methods syllabus.

3) Can I submit a draft? Yes, but it must be 48 hours before the deadline, which avoids people submitting drafts at the last minute.

4) Does the story or post to the WordPress site have to contain any multimedia elements? Yes, at least two.

5) What should they be? A photo of the protagonist in your story; a chart that illustrates the trend or pattern you’ve discovered from your data set.

6) Photos are easy. But what about charts? We’ll eventually learn now to use tools such as Fusion Tables and Tableau to make interactive charts. For now you can use Excel’s chart-making function, which is explained in chapter four of our textbook. Or you can use infogr.am, a stop gap solution until we begin using more sophisticated tools. Infogr.am is fairly intuitive. That being said, you can download a brief tutorial  by clicking here

Reading: Chapter 4

Week Three(TOP)

Sept. 24

Ottawa hospitals good but expensive, national data show (Ottawa Citizen) http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/big-data-reveals-ottawa-hospitals-are-good-but-expensive

Canadian Institute for Health Information: Explore your health system http://yourhealthsystem.cihi.ca/hsp/indepth?lang=en#/

An in-class exercise of ratios using university salary data

Which public servants earned more than $100,000? Search Ontario’s ‘Sunshine List (The Globe and Mail) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/which-public-servants-earn-more-than-100000-search-the-sunshine-list/article17699726/#dashboard/alerts

To download a 2014 version the sunshine list, please download here

Enrolment By University http://www.aucc.ca/canadian-universities/facts-and-stats/enrolment-by-university/

To download the Excel workbook containing the calculations for the ratio exercise, please click here.

Ottawa Police 2012-2013 crime stats http://www.ottawapolice.ca/en/crime/2012-2013-Crime-Stats.asp

DownThemAll ( A FireFox plug-in to download several PDFs simultaneously) http://www.downthemall.net/main/install-it/downthemall-2-0-17/

To download the 2012-2013 zipped Ottawa crime data containing PDFs and Excel file, please click here

To download the Ottawa Crime Data tutorial, please click here.

Week Four(TOP)

Oct. 1

Excel test

To download the test, please click here

Continue our work with ratios using Ottawa Police Crime Data

Build a crime database with the crime rates for the major offences in the five categories, which we will bring into Fusion Tables

Introduction to fusion tables

Ottawa Wards 2010 KML file

Download the ward KML file by clicking here

Ottawa Crime Assaults mapped out in Fusion Tables https://www.google.com/fusiontables/data?docid=1cYB5hygxDs85dT0_wFivNydzXMhG4A8YnSLC-ZjJ#map:id=3

Ottawa population numbers http://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/get-know-your-city/statistics/population-and-households-occupied-dwellings-estimates-ward

To download Ottawa population numbers, click here

Crimes and offences (Statcan summary tables that break crimes down by province and territories) http://cansim2.statcan.gc.ca/cgi-win/cnsmcgi.pgm?Lang=E&SP_Action=Result&SP_ID=2102&SP_TYP=5&SP_Sort=1&SP_Portal=2

Juristat (Statistics Canada) http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/85-002-x2014001-eng.htm

Crime Reports (crime mapping company for police forces in North America) http://www.crimereports.com/map?search=Ottawa+Ontario

City Council & Committee Agendas & Minutes http://ottawa.ca/cgi-bin/docs.pl?t=1&lang=en

Payment plea for Tamil protest costs ignored (CBC News) http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2010/07/29/ottawa-tamil-protest-costs-public-safety.html

To download an extract of the Ottawa Police Services minutes, please click here

Initial discussion of the second assignment due on Oct. 24

To download part two of the Ottawa Crime Data tutorial, please click here.

Assignment

The second assignment is to be a story based on municipal data, even though some of you used municipal data sets for your first story. I suggested that you can use the crime database we’ve been building, for instance, selecting a particular offence that is rising sharply in a particular ward and writing about it. If you are writing about crime, as about half of you indicated, then the key is explaining why the trend you’ve identified is behaving the way that it is. For those who indicated a preference for a different data set, please make a selection from an municipal open data website. The story is to be 600 words, to be uploaded to the “Database assignment two” category on our website.

Q & A

Q. How many people must I interview? A. At least two. Q. What do I have to do with the data? A. Use any of the techniques we’ve learned thus far to find your trends: sorting, filtering, pivot tables. Q. What data do I submit? A. The original data set in the first worksheet, followed by filtered versions on subsequent worksheets in the same Excel workbook. Q. What if I have tables from different data sets, for example, a Statistics Canada crime table and an Ottawa Police table? A. No problem. Just make sure they’re on separate worksheets in the same workbook. Q. Should I upload the data my Google Drive? A. Yes, please. Q. Do I also have to submit a backgrounder explaining how I got the story? A. Yes. Upload the 500-word explanation to Google Drive. And, again, I simply need a brief explanation of your thought pattern, as well as a brief description of who you contacted and why, and who you attempted to contact. Please be sure to include their coordinates. A. If I choose a municipal data set instead of the crime data, does it have to be from the city of Ottawa? Q. No, it can be from any other city. Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax are among the growing number of cities that have open-data portals. The idea of this assignment is to become familiar with them. Q. What multi-media components will I be required to upload? A. At least three multi-media components. As a standard practice, you should be uploading your documents to Documentcloud and annotating them. You’ll also be required to use Google’s Fusion Tables, either to show a heat map, or charts illustrating the trend you’ve identified, or both. You may also be comfortable enough with Tableau to use it for charts. A photo of a person you’ve interviewed, or an interview excerpt in Soundcloud are two more options. A. Can I submit drafts? Q. Yes, but keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be a full story. Rather, feel free to fire off a lead and a bare-bones outline. Q. What’s the deadline for submitting a draft? A. Let’s make it 48 hours before the Oct. 24 midnight deadline. Q. Does an emailed correspondence count as an interview? A. In a pinch, yes. But make it clear in your story that the individual in question chose to avoid direct questions by issuing an emailed response. Q. If I’m doing a crime story, do I have to interview the police? A. Yes, you should at least give the force a chance to respond, even if you’re reduced to submitting a specific set of questions. Push for an interview, and don’t be dissuaded by complaints that too many students are contacting them. Q. Who else can I contact if I’m doing a crime story? A. Victims, community groups searching for solutions, city councillors, criminologists, they’re all fare game. Q. How soon would you advise me to choose a data set? A. ASAP so you can begin thinking about treatment and voices for your story? Q. Must I run my data set past you? A. If it’s crime data, no. If it’s another dataset, yes. Only because I want to make sure that you have enough data to work with? Q. Can I run my numbers by you once I’ve done the calculations? A. Yes. As a standard practice, you should be double checking your numbers against the original source, and reviewing your formulas to ensure they are correct. Q. Will I lose marks for neglecting to format numbers, label worksheets and include URLs in the original worksheets? A. Yes, You will lose half a mark, though by now these requirements should be automatic. So I don’t anticipate it being a problem. Q. Will I lose marks for a late submission? A. Yes, a half a grade for each day. Again, I don’t anticipate deadlines being a problem. Best of luck!!

Week Five(TOP)

Oct. 8

WHAT WE WILL COVER

Brief feedback on assignments marked so far

A continuation of our lessons on calculating rates

Creating tables in Excel to upload to Fusion Tables

Joining the crime table with the ward KML file to create a heat map

LINKS

Postmedia deal unlikely to face probe on foreign investment (The Globe and Mail) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/postmedia-says-foreign-investment-rules-dont-apply-in-quebecor-deal/article20964892/#dashboard/follows/

To download the primer on using numbers, please click here.

To download the crime rate tutorial, please click here.

Ottawa Crime Assaults mapped out in Fusion Tables https://www.google.com/fusiontables/data?docid=1cYB5hygxDs85dT0_wFivNydzXMhG4A8YnSLC-ZjJ#map:id=3

Ottawa break-and-enter heat map https://www.google.com/fusiontables/data?docid=1k0_t9F3bYF2HklOnHrMwxX7o2eHsOAGC_ar8jVEH#map:id=3

Ottawa Wards 2010 KML file

Download the ward KML file by clicking here

Population statistics for cities, provinces and Canada http://davidmckie.com/syllabus/reporting-methods-carleton-university-journalism-5206-2/#Population

The Bank of Canada Statistics http://www.bankofcanada.ca/ http://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/

To download the Mapping Crime Rate Tutorial, please click here.

Week Six(TOP)

Oct. 15

To get the pivot table test, please download here.

Drug seizure stories (CBC News)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2013/03/27/pol-busted-at-the-border-drug-seizures-cbsa.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2013/03/27/pol-border-drug-seizures-china-gbh.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2013/03/27/montreal-hot-spot-for-canada-drug-seizures.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/03/27/bc-cbsa-drugs-ketamine.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/story/2013/03/28/wdr-cocaine-seizures-ambassador-bridge.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2013/03/27/ns-border-halifax-smuggle.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2013/03/27/mb-khat-manitoba-border-smuggling.html

http://www.radio-canada.ca/grands-titres/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/inside-politics-blog/2013/03/post-15.html

Government looks to terrorism studies to stop radicalization (Postmedia News) http://www.canada.com/news/Government+looks+terrorism+studies+stop+radicalization/10274501/story.html

Buy and Sell Canada (Public Works and Government  Services Canada) https://buyandsell.gc.ca/

Continuation with Fusion Tables

Fusion Table links http://davidmckie.com/reporting-methods-carleton-university-journalism-5206_/#Fusion1

Contaminated sites cleanup to cost billions more, budget office says (CBC News) http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/contaminated-sites-cleanup-to-cost-billions-more-budget-office-says-1.2604939

Federal Contaminated  Sites (Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat) http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/fcsi-rscf/classification-eng.aspx

To download the contaminated sites file, please click here

Top Five Federal Contaminated sites to be evaluated https://www.google.com/fusiontables/data?docid=1DIsNZmeKjNNshIE1_EPhz8GCjWagC8ZiE6wPAWgT#map:id=3

Fusion Table Icon Markers https://www.google.com/fusiontables/data?docid=1BDnT5U1Spyaes0Nj3DXciJKa_tuu7CzNRXWdVA#map:id=3

Federal Electoral Districts http://geogratis.cgdi.gc.ca/geogratis/en/option/select.do?id=258D0E88-4C19-7DB1-41C2-0D0CF1CAF49C

Federal Electoral Boundaries https://www.google.com/fusiontables/data?docid=124A4bVKE_a-PQtFPCRTnuchYlynK6Ut-G_-hTGQn#map:id=3

To download the federal riding kml file, please click here

Fusion Tables Layer Builder http://fusion-tables-api-samples.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/FusionTablesLayerWizard/src/index.html

Discussion of Oct. 24 assignment

To download the contaminated sites tutorial, please click here.

Week Seven(TOP)

Oct. 22

To download discarded syringes, please click here

Ottawa Open Data Website Wards 2010 KML file

Download the ward KML file by clicking here

Discarded Syringes in Ottawa https://www.google.com/fusiontables/data?docid=19j8yrUXQfAYRNjh5srXOm6UezTyBD8VZEqQqo4pN#map:id=3

Fusion Tables Layer Builder http://fusion-tables-api-samples.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/FusionTablesLayerWizard/src/index.html

Needles Per Ward Embedded into WordPress http://davidmckie.com/needles-per-ward/

Needles Per Ward Heat Map https://www.google.com/fusiontables/data?docid=1uAhTr-CDrjglNb5Hx4AVLP7yRd81Teq5jSIDeqq8#map:id=3

To download the Fusion Tables layer builder tutorial, please click here.

Introduction to Tableau http://www.tableausoftware.com/public/community

Mapped discarded Syringes Per Ward in Tableau http://davidmckie.com/syringes-per-ward-count-in-tableau/?preview=true&preview_id=6267&preview_nonce=51ce2c9e6e&post_format=standard

To download the “Mapping Discarded Needles in Fusion Tables”, please click here

To download the Tableau tutorial, please click here.

Tableau tutorial using Industry Canada trade data

Week Eight (TOP) (Fall break)

Oct. 29

Have a good break!!

Week Nine(TOP)

Nov. 5

To download the Fusion Table Heat Map test click here

Billions in federal cash go unspent as Tories mull tax cuts http://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/billions-in-federal-cash-goes-unspent-as-tories-mull-tax-cuts

Security agencies fail to spend millions from budgets (The Globe and Mail) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/security-agencies-underspending-yields-fears-of-hidden-push-to-cut-costs/article21451282/

Table Showing Globe and Mail reference to lapsed Mountie spending in Public Accounts 11 uploaded to DocumentCloud and Annotated https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1352523-2014-vol2-eng.html#document/p494/a185442

Theft of military uniforms sparks fresh security concerns (Ottawa Citizen) http://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/theft-of-military-uniforms-sparks-fresh-security-concerns

Lost property in Public Accounts Part 111 Document Uploaded to DocumentCloud https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1351425-2014-vol3-eng.html#annotation/a184925

Public Accounts of  Canada 2014 http://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/recgen/cpc-pac/2014/index-eng.html

Six Public Accounts Datasets http://data.gc.ca/data/en/dataset?q=Public+accounts&organization=pwgsc-tpsgc

Visualization of Lost Items in Tableau http://davidmckie.com/lost-items-from-the-2014-federal-public-accounts/

To obtain the extracted PDF of Lost Property in Public Accounts extracted and uploaded to Cometdocs, click here.

To obtain the Excel workbook of Lost Property in Public Accounts, click here.

Tableau

Assignment

This can be any topic with only one stipulation: you can’t use the data set from a previous assignment. So that means that the crime data is off-limits. Having said that, all of the other data sets we’ve discussed in class are available, as well as data trapped in PDFs. So here’s a basic Q & A to get you started.

Q: Can it be any topic? A: Yes. Q: Are there any criteria for the data? A: Only that there be enough information to reveal trends over a period of time, say at least three to five years? Q: Can I use more than one data set? A: Yes. Q: How many hyperlinks should I have in my story? A: As many as you need. If you make a reference to a study, law, or report, then I expect a hyperlink to a document that’s uploaded to DocumentCloud an annotated. Q: So will I be required to use DocumentCloud? A: Yes. Q: Speaking of research, how many interviews must I do? A: At least three. Q: How many visualizations will the story require? A: At least three, in addition to DocumentCloud. You can use Fusion Tables, Tableau, and ArcGIS, which we will learn during the next three weeks. Q: Do I need approval for my data? A: Not approval, per se, but I’d like to review your data to ensure you’re on the right track. Q: How long should the story be? A: A thousand words. Q:Where should I submit the blog post? A: To the category “Database assignment three”. Q: Can I submit a draft? A: Yes. Q: What’s the due date? A: Midnight, Nov. 28. Q: Specifically, what will I be required to submit? A: In one email, I would like links to your story on the WordPress site, a link to your data set — that MUST BE ONE WORKBOOK — on your Google Drive, and a link to your background document, also on your Google Drive.

Reading for next class: Chapter seven “Mapping Your Way to the Story”

Week Ten(TOP)

Nov. 12

An introduction to mapping with Rebecca Bartlett and Joel Rivard, the specialists from the Carlton library who will be supporting us during the next few weeks.

To download our mapping tutorial, please click here.

To download the contaminated sites file we’ll be using, please click here.

To download the contaminated sites file in “dbf” format, please click here.

To download the mapping PPT, please click here.

Canadian administrative boundaries http://www.geobase.ca/geobase/en/data/admin/index.html#fed_cf

To download the contaminated sites tutorial for Qgis, please click here.

Week Eleven(TOP)

Nov. 19

Link to LibreOffice

Working with census data

To download the Mapping Census data tutorial using ArcMap, please click here.

To download the same Mapping Census data tutorial using Qgis, please click here.

Please click here for a link to the census links.

To obtain the RidingsAndParties database, please click here.

Week Twelve(TOP)

Nov. 26

To download the census mapping test using ArcMap, please click here.

To download the data set for the ArcMap test, please click here.

To download the new dbf file for the ArcMap test, please click here.

To download the data set for Qgis, please click  here.

To download the corresponding census test in Qgis, please click here.

working with census data continue

To download the discarded syringe file, please click here.

Week Thirteen(TOP)

Dec. 3

Learning how to create buffers around features

To download the creating buffers in Qgis tutorial, please click here.

To download the creating buffers in ArcMap tutorial, please click here.

Creating buffers in ArcMap

To download the discarded syringe dbf file for ArcMap, please click here.

Geocoding

To download discarded syringe file for geocoding exercises, please right-click here.

To download the geocoding tutorial using Qgis, please click  here.

GPS Visualizer http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/geocoding.html

To download the geocoding tutorial, please click here.

Your Right To Know: How to Use the Law to Get Government Secrets http://www.amazon.ca/Your-Right-Know-Government-Secrets/dp/177040211X

Pulling it all together

Tutorials(TOP)

From week one: To download the CADORS tutorial, please click here

From week two: To download the sunshine list tutorial, please click here.

From week two:  To download the infogram tutorial, pleae click here.

From week three: To download the Ottawa Crime Data tutorial, please click here.

From week four: To download part two of the Ottawa Crime Data tutorial, please click here.

From week five: To download the primer on using numbers, please click here.

From week five: To download the crime rate tutorial, please click here.

From week five:To download the Mapping Crime Rate Tutorial, please click here.

From week six: To download the contaminated sites tutorial, please click here.

From week seven: To download the Fusion Tables layer builder tutorial, please click here.

From week seven: To download the “Mapping Discarded Needles in Fusion Tables”, please click here

From week seven: To download the Tableau tutorial, please click here.

From week seven: Tableau tutorial using Industry Canada trade data

From week ten: To download our mapping tutorial for ArcMap, please click here.

From week ten: To download the contaminated sites tutorial for Qgis, please click here.

From week eleven: To download the Mapping Census data tutorial using ArcMap, please click here.

From week eleven: To download the same Mapping Census data tutorial using Qgis, please click here.

From week thirteen: To download the creating buffers in Qgis tutorial, please click here.

From week thirteen: To download the creating buffers in ArcMap tutorial, please click here.

From week thirteen: To download the geocoding tutorial using Qgis, please click  here.

From week thirteen: To download the geocoding tutorial, please click here.

Data sets(TOP)

From examples in the syllabus introduction: To download the CADORS disruptive passenger Excel file, please click here

From examples in the syllabus introduction: To download oil-spils data, please click here.

From examples in the syllabus introduction: To download Toronto parking-ticket data, click here.

From week one: To download a zip file of Transport Canada’s vehicle recall data, please click here

From week three: To download the 2012-2013 zipped Ottawa crime data containing PDFs and Excel file, please click here

From week two: To download a 2014 version the sunshine list, please download here

From week three: To download the Ottawa Wards 2010 KML file, please click here.

From week four: To download Ottawa population numbers, click here

From week four: To download an extract of the Ottawa Police Services minutes, please click here

From week six: To download the contaminated sites file, please click here

From week six: To download the federal riding kml file, please click here

From week seven: To download discarded syringes, please click here

From week ten: To download the contaminated sites tutorial for Qgis, please click here.

From week eleven: To obtain the RidingsAndParties database, please click here.

From week twelve: To download the discarded syringe file, please click here.

From week twelve: To download the Ottawa highincome census dbf file we used for the test, please click here.

From week thirteen: To download discarded syringe file for geocoding exercises, please click here.