1995 Annual Report of the Statistics Administration =================================================== by Alana Boltwood (ad097), January 3, 1996 Mandate and/or reason for being formed -------------------------------------- The Statistics Administration co-ordinates the collection and interpretation of statistics about NCF. It ensures that members, volunteers and staff can find the quantitative information they need. The Statistics Administration ensures that data collected is appropriate to effective management of NCF, and that user data is treated as confidential information. Item #3 in 'go stats' gives more detail on the intended mandate of the Statistics Administration. Members and contact information ------------------------------- Alana Boltwood (ad097) is the contact person for Statistics. Jim Elder (aa456) and Ian Allen (xx610) are frequent contributors of information about NCF usage. Yvonne Dionne (ao594) is our link to the Planning Committee. Roy Hooper (ad016) and Russell McOrmond (aa302) have recently become involved in statistics planning. New contributors are always welcome, on an informal or formal basis. Questions can be posed in ncf.admin.stats or by email to ad097. 'go stats' is the menu area where statistics are made available. 'go statistics' is the NCF Operations menu describing the Statistics Administration. Processes used for carrying out duties -------------------------------------- Work is done on-line and off-line by individuals. No group meetings are held, but Alana, Ian and Jim consult with each other as required. All known stats on usage, registration, members and management are referenced by the 'go stats' menu area. There is a newsgroup ncf.admin.stats for discussion of NCF statistics. Alana maintains this area, ensuring that newly available statistics are put in the menus or the newsgroup. Volunteers and staff are asked to post statistical information in this newsgroup as well as any other relevant areas. Overview of 1995 activity, accomplishments ------------------------------------------ In June of 1995, Alana proposed that NCF statistics be co-ordinated. A menu area (go stats) was designed, and is maintained as a central access point to all stats about NCF. NCF members were successfully made aware of the 'go stats' area via ncf.announce and other newsgroup postings. A small number of stats queries have been received and answered by email. Staff and the Planning Committee chose a set of "operational indicators", basic statistics that are reported to the Board of Directors every month in the Operations Report. Guidelines were written for conducting surveys of NCF members, and posted under 'go stats', #7, #2. The Statistics Administration is available for consultation on methods for surveying users. At the 1995 AGM, Jim coordinated a member survey on computer equipment and funding issues. 'go questionnaire' to see Alana's analysis of the results. Jim and Ian have produced various statistical reports throughout the year. These usage figures have been graphed and interpreted to better inform the Board and membership about how NCF is being used. Usage stats have been useful in planning, menu redesign, prioritization, and many other management activities. Ian and Alana contributed comments on Andrew Patrick's second report of results from the 1994 survey of NCF members. A policy on confidentiality of user information has been written, with input from the Statistics Administration, and is now before the Board for approval. Community networkers across Canada have been informed of NCF's stats programs and menus, via the culist.can-freenet mailing list. A few people from other freenets have asked for copies of data collection programs. At the December reception in honour of the 50,000th user, Industry Minister John Manley was lobbied to consider collecting national statistics on Internet usage, via Statistics Canada. Any suggestions for 1996 goals and objectives for your volunteer group ---------------------------------------------------------------------- - Ensure that adequate data collection will still be possible as we move to WWW technology. Where usage logging methods change, use the opportunity to direct data collection & analysis to priority areas (since each analysis requires programming, CPU and disk space). - Help web page maintainers (info providers, SIG maintainers, etc.) to install 'hits' counters on their pages, and find any other stats about their pages. - Continue maintaining the 'go stats' menu, as it attracts moderate interest, from many non-'administrators', according to the showcounts service. - Reconsider the need for ncf.admin.stats; people prefer discussing quantitative information in other areas, particularly ncf.sub.system-design. - Find (a) volunteer(s) to help with analysing and interpreting the data we have. - Work towards a policy ensuring the continued access by NCF members to statistical information about NCF, in an open, democratic fashion.