Chemical Education Today
Report
WebCASPAR: NSF’s Educational Database Engine
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by Donald J. Wink In a column last year (1), I wrote about “Science and Engineering Indicators”, a publication of the National Science Board at the NSF Web site. That remains a very effective tool for getting primary and secondary data, including access to spreadsheet files of the Indicators’ many tables. The Indicators, however, are in a document with fixed categories. Certain data, though probably “out there somewhere”, are not presented in the print or online version. Well, “out there somewhere” is much easier to find through WebCASPAR, the NSF’s Web-accessed search engine for a huge array of primary databases. The NSF Web site hosts the WebCASPAR database that allows users to post their queries of the basic data collected on science and engineering in the United States. This includes data about higher education in science, math, engineering, and technology. WebCASPAR has its own server at http://caspar.nsf.gov. The opening page contains information on the contents Table 1.WebCASPAR Data Data Retrieval Method
Type of Data
(through a “DataMap” feature), a tutorial, and certain previously prepared reports. There are several different ways to retrieve data in the system, and they are listed in Table 1. All have associated tutorials, including sample reports. The databases are accessible after a log-in procedure that requires a new user to select an ID and a password. Be advised that this is not done through a secure browser. There is little need to know the structure of the databases under investigation. The actual data-retrieval process is done through a series of query screens presented as Web pages. One is led through selections of the categories that are appropriate for a particular goal. At any point, a user has an icon to click for help about a topic. This often gives definitions of search terms, for example. But it is also the way to get the “real” references for the databases under investigation. The WebCASPAR system is probably effective in many different settings—only a fraction are educational. For example, it could be used by students look up data about jobs and industry. It is also just the tip of the iceberg of data lurking out of the Web.
Reports
Pregenerated examples of what WebCASPAR can do.
Note
Institutional Data
Searches of multiple databases for a single institution.
W An example of how to search the database appears on JCE Online at http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/Journal/issues/1999/Nov/abs1479.html.
Single Source
Uses a single database, if you know which database to use.
Literature Cited
Multiple Sources
Allows access to more than one database at a time.
Categories by Single Source
For all of the information in a particular categor y from a single database.
Categories by Multiple Sources
Cross-sur vey data, comparing categories from more than one sur vey perspective.
1. Wink, D. J. J. Chem. Educ. 1998, 75, 1078.
Donald J. Wink teaches in the Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 West Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60607;
[email protected].
JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu • Vol. 76 No. 11 November 1999 • Journal of Chemical Education
1479
