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Steven Noble
Editor, Internal Publications
p. 403.440.5692
e-mail: snoble@mtroyal.ca

Fred Cheney
Media Relations Officer
p. 403.440.5195
e-mail: fcheney@mtroyal.ca

 

A partnership between Mount Royal University’s Institute for Nonprofit Studies (INS) and Mount Royal's Library has had two positive results: original research that is helping charities across Alberta and a new computer server that is helping Mount Royal students and faculty with research.

The partnership began when the Director of the INS, Keith Seel, recognized an opportunity for a research project using the T3010 data set.

Natalie O'Toole, worked closely with Keith Seel and Robert Elson to develop the new Geographic Information Systems on campus.

This data set combines data held by the Canada Revenue Agency with 2006 Census data to create a comprehensive list of information on Canadian charities.

“The INS undertook a research project to map Alberta’s charities, and worked with the Library’s GIS area to complete the research,” Seel says.

“The research resulted in the publication of The Atlas of Alberta’s Charities — the first ever atlas of charities for Alberta, Calgary and Medicine Hat.”

To create the atlas, Seel worked with Peter Elson, PhD, senior research associate with the INS. Then he approached the Director of the Library, Carol Shepstone, to request the services of Natalie O’Toole, data information specialist with the Library.

“Natalie had been working with (Seel) in running some data for INS, and so he realized what a great resource she was and what she could add to the project,” Shepstone says.

“I was completely supportive because I think what we have to offer in terms of GIS specialty and expertise is really quite unique at Mount Royal — it’s a bit of a hidden virtue, almost,” she says.

“Many people don’t know what we’re able to do within the Library in terms of supporting that type of work.”

GIS stands for geographic information systems. O’Toole has worked closely with a range of Mount Royal faculties on research projects, including the Criminal Justice Research Lab’s work on crime mapping, including Criminal Justice research work on crime mapping.

For the INS project, O’Toole created an online mapping system that allows users to manipulate the T3010 data.

“I geo-coded the information from the data set and turned it into a GIS layer of points,” O’Toole explains.

“Then I created three online, interactive mapping systems that are linked, allowing the user to manipulate this data based on information like census, address, revenue, expenses, liabilities, assets and types of charity.”

Seel says the value of this mapping is in helping users to understand the dynamics between registered charities and the communities they serve.

It is also the first in a series of initiatives that the INS will be introducing to help the nonprofit sector in understanding the relationships between charities and community.

As a result of the atlas project, the INS funded the purchase of additional server capacity for the Library.

“This will enable the Library to further GIS research by the INS and by other researchers, students and faculty,” Seel says.

“It’s an excellent example of resource sharing within Mount Royal that builds the capacity for future research and results in a strong Library, benefitting the entire Mount Royal community.”

Shepstone says it’s also important because it gives students practical experience in working with GIS and other data.

“I think what we’ve been able to do working so closely with INS is exciting,” she says.

“The expertise that we have at Mount Royal – not just in the Library, but throughout the University — is really exciting.”

O’Toole is looking forward to the possibilities created by the presence of the new server.

“It’s unbelievable — I’ll be able to do so many more new things with students using this new server and technology,” she says.

“It just modernizes the whole GIS and data component of the Library, which will filter down to students I help teach GIS skills to and to faculty members who want to add a geo-spatial component to their research.”

— Nancy Cope, March 11, 2010