Abstract
Michael D. Levi and Richard Fecher (2002) "Web Data
Collection at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: An Organizational View."
Building on the previous favorable experience of a unified public Web site
for data dissemination, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics wanted to
implement a single point of entry for all agency collection systems with a
common look and feel, both to facilitate access for those respondents who
supply data to multiple surveys and to maintain a unified organizational
presence. Thus BLS developed a centralized capability — the Internet Data
Collection Facility (IDCF). The objective behind the IDCF project is to
provide a uniform, manageable, and secure architecture for Bureau surveys to
collect information over the Internet. At the same time individual surveys
vary widely in scope and complexity, and the responsible program offices are
reluctant to surrender control over the specifics of their collection
instruments. This has led to a juggling act with both effective and
inefficient components. The paper addresses the organizational approach and
discusses some of the trade-offs involved.
Last Modified Date: July 19, 2008
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Bureau of Labor Statistics
