Data site revamped

STATS Indiana, a service provided by the Indiana Business Research Center at the Kelley School of Business, was redeveloped this month. The service allows users to access a wide variety of economic and census data in one location.\n“It provides a place on the Internet that is freely accessible to everyone who needs good data, valid data (or) data that has been checked for accuracy, to do their work,” said Carol Rogers, deputy director and chief information officer of the Indiana Business \nResearch Center.\nSTATS Indiana has been well received by its users since it became more user friendly, Rogers said. New features include the ability to compile information from multiple locations, which allows users to gain specific information that was once difficult to acquire. \nThe Web site, stats.indiana.edu, compiles data from various government agencies in the state, Rogers said.\nAnother new feature, the inflation calculator, allows users to analyze data and see how it has changed over time. The peer finder allows users to examine the demographics of different areas, Rogers said. She said users can compare the economy, size and education of an area such as Monroe County to a county in another state.\nDirector of Indiana Business Research Center Jerry Conover said the radius calculator allows people to quickly obtain data of a specific area. Users can compile information and then visualize it through custom maps. These tools, and the Web site, are better organized and lets users find exactly what they need, he said.\n“STATS Indiana is a comprehensive tool to provide economic and demographic information to help people understand whatever area they’re interested in,” Conover said.\nConover said while other states have Web sites with census data and other statistics, none of them provide the same depth of information as STATS Indiana. \nJunior Kyle McCallan, who is majoring in statistics, said it is good to know there is a Web site that has this information, which is often difficult to access\nand analyze.\nOne of the objectives of STATS Indiana is to allow people to make good decisions for their business or community by analyzing the data available at the Web site, Conover said. \n“Different agencies never used to really share their data with each other,” he said. “STATS Indiana brings the data together from the agencies and it gives you a richer view of what is going on.”\nMcCallan said having all the information in one place is convenient. He said it is easier to go to STATS Indiana than to do a search on Google and sort through all \nthe information. \nRogers said this is important because business professionals, government officials and even students need a place where they can obtain dependable data easily. She said the changes to STATS Indiana were made because of the constant feedback from users around the state. \n“People wanted to be able to do more online with the data, and they also wanted easier ways to find what they were looking for,” Rogers said.