NEW YORK STATE ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION GOPHER DOCUMENT --------------------------------------------------------- Creation Date: June 1994 Date Added to Gopher: June 28, 1994 Source: Research Services --------------------------------------------------------- ELECTRONIC RECORDS NEW YORK STATE ARCHIVES INFORMATION LEAFLET #5 _______________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRONIC DATA SETS AND USERS' GUIDES The New York State Archives has acquired four significant electronic records systems and has developed user-friendly guides to facilitate access to the data. The systems, described in more detail below, are: 1. DOCS Inmate Case Records 2. GOER Grievance Tracking System 3. U.S. Census Data (1970) 4. SED Primary/Secondary Education Data The users' guide to each system contains five basic features: 1) a technical requirement sheet summarizing the file structure, storage format, record count, and hardware and software specifications; 2) an historical overview of the development of the system which contains information on the original uses of the data; 3) a description of data collection methods; 4) codebooks defining all data elements; and 5) file layouts illustrating the structure of each record. _______________________________________ 1. DOCS Inmate Case Records The New York State Department of Correctional Services maintained a punch-card- based inmate history information system from 1956 to 1973. The records describe each inmate in detail, giving the inmate's conviction status, sentence, prior convictions, and psychiatric classification, as well as the inmate's age, sex, education status, military status, religion, marital status, and drug addictions. Personal identifiers, such as name and social security number, have been suppressed to safeguard personal privacy. The voluminous records (each annual file contains between 10,117 and 19,862 records) are stored on 18 reels of magnetic tape in IBM standard label EBCDIC. The users' guide provides the researcher with standard technical and background information needed to access the data. The guide also guides the researcher through a number of structural and content changes that were made to record layouts over a twenty-year period. The guide alerts the user to significant amounts of missing and invalid data that was not identified in the original documentation and may cause problems for users. [Series 17619] 2. GOER Grievance Tracking System The Governor's Office of Employee Relations created the Grievance Tracking System to collect information on employee grievances and grieved disciplinary proceedings from all New York State Executive Branch agencies from 1984 to 1990. The system contains two master files, the Grievance Data File and the Discipline Data File. Personal identifiers have been suppressed in each file type. The fourteen annual files are available in two formats: nine- track magnetic tape in IBM standard label EBCDIC and 3.5 inch floppy discs in ASCII format. The user's guide describes the data collection method, illustrates the components of the database, and defines each data element utilized by the system. The guide also familiarizes the user with the contractual grievance and disciplinary procedures of New York State Executive Branch agencies. [Series 17089] 3. U.S. Census Data (1970) The New York State Data Center, a unit of the Department of Economic Development (formerly the Department of Commerce), is part of a nationwide network of state and regional data centers that receive and distribute official census data products. The New York State Archives now holds the 1970 Housing and Population Summary Counts 1-6 for New York State. These are maintained in 14 rectangular files in hierarchical sort sequence. Each file contains actual population counts aggregated to geographic units such as county, town, tract, and block group. Many counts have multiple data files that represent various levels of geography. The users' guide is actually an introduction to the documentation produced by the U.S. Census Bureau in 1970. Because access to this information is complicated by the need to identify hundreds of tabulations, stratifiers, and data elements, the guide provides users with background information needed to understand and use the original documentation. [Series 17387] NOTE: The 1980 Housing and Population Summary Count files are now being analyzed and accessioned by the State Archives and Records Administration (SARA) Center for Electronic Records. Potential users should inquire at SARA about date of availability. 4. SED Primary and Secondary Education Data The Basic Educational Data System (BEDS), created by the New York State Education Department Information Center on Education, contains statistical data on the pupils, staff, and facilities of every local school district, school building, and intermediate district (Boards of Cooperative Educational Services--BOCES) in New York. BEDS consists of two files, the Institutional Master File (IMF) and the Personnel Master File (PMF). The IMF contains data on each school district, public and private school building, and BOCES. Individual records provide institution identifiers and statistics on enrollment, staffing, and special educational programs. Files are available for each year, 1967-1981, and contain four record types: public school, private school, school district, and BOCES. Annual files contain an average of 7200 records; the size of the records varies. The PMF contains statistical data on the demographic and professional characteristics of public school professional staff and their job assignments. There are individual records for up to eight teaching and four nonteaching assignments each year. Files are available for each year, 1968-1981. Annual files contain roughly 600,000 records; the record size is 170 characters. The IMF and PMF each contain fourteen rectangular flat files stored in standard label EBCDIC, and are available on magnetic tape (IMF, 2 reels; PMF, 14 reels). Users' guides (paper) to the IMF and PMF are available. The State Archives also holds paper statistical reports of school enrollment and finances for the period 1904-75. [Series 18355 (IMF), 18356 (PMF)] ________________________________________ How to Obtain Data Sets and Users' Guides The data sets described above are available to the public at the cost of media reproduction. A users' guide, prepared by the SARA Center for Electronic Records, is available in paper format for each of the data sets. A typical guide describes the source and contents of the data files, the system requirements, and the general file structure. A guide may also contain lengthy appendices of file layouts, listing individual data elements. Single copies of the guides (introductory material) are available free of charge. (The voluminous codebooks and file layouts will be provided to data users who require them; there may be a charge for reproduction costs.) Information on obtaining users' guides and data sets is available from: NEW YORK STATE ARCHIVES Cultural Education Center Room 11D40 Albany, NY 12230 Telephone (518) 474-8955 Telefax: (518) 473-9985 Internet jfolts@mail.nysed.gov [LEAF5 6/1994]