Dataset Documentation refers to documents provided (on paper or electronically) by the Department which are of
relevance to the dataset -- for example, documents that describe the original computer system used to capture the data, or help to set
it in context. Some of this documentation may be essential to gaining a full understanding of a dataset.
Documentation may include published reports, data capture forms, diagrams and internal memoranda. Occasionally, NDAD creates
additional documents to augment those provided by the department. These are identified in the Documentation Catalogues, and accessed
the same way as original documents.
How does NDAD preserve and provide documentation?
Documentation originating from the Department may arrive at NDAD on paper or as an electronic file (sometimes both). From these, we
provide online access in one or more of the following categories or classes: IMAGE, TEXT, HTML, OTHER.
Documents received on paper
Paper documents are scanned to create high-resolution IMAGE files. These are not made available directly; instead you may use the Document Viewer to re-scale them to a manageable size and display them in a format supported by
your browser.
Where possible we also use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to create TEXT files, for easier access. It should be noted
that OCR is inherently unreliable and it is not possible for NDAD to check or correct such conversions, so an OCR TEXT file may not be
an accurate rendering of the original text. If in doubt, check the IMAGE files.
Documents received as electronic files
Electronic documents may be provided on-line in the same format as NDAD received them, and/or converted into a different format. For
example, if we receive a PDF file, it will typically be made available as-is under the OTHER class, but also a TEXT conversion made.
On the other hand, if we receive a Wordperfect document, and wish to make it additionally available as a PDF, you would find two
different subclasses called OTHER Original and OTHER Converted. Subclasses should help to
make it clear which version of the document is considered definitive.
How do I find the documentation?
Documentation has CRDA references containing /DD/ where dataset references contain /DS/. You can get a list of all
the documentation for a particular series by going to reference CRDA/nn/DD, where nn is the series number. The Full
Details tab (/CRDA/nn/DD/detail.html) shows the complete Documentation Catalogue.
Clicking on the name of a document from any of these tabs will take you to the Document Viewer.
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