OR Handbook

ICPSR Representative Quick Guide

Role of the OR

The role of the ICPSR Official Representative (OR) at a member institution is to assist faculty, staff and students with using ICPSR resources. Responsibilities include establishing and maintaining IP-based access, answering questions about ICPSR resources, promoting ICPSR resources on campus, and insuring that membership dues are paid in a timely manner. The OR also votes for ICPSR Council members every other year and attends biennial OR meetings whenever possible.

All members of ICPSR, including Federation and National Membership members, must have an Official Representative. The primary reason for this is administration of IP-based access to the ICPSR website.

The Designated Representative (DR), if present, assists data users in locating, downloading, and working with ICPSR data. This position, while optional, can be a great asset to users and the OR. The DR is also welcome to attend the OR meetings.

A HubOR is the OR for a Federation. The HubOR ensures that each member institution has an OR, receives the invoice for the Federation, and communicates between ICPSR and the Federation. The HubOR generally also serves as the OR for one of the members. In addition to having full access to the OR site, the HubOR has the necessary permissions to run utilization reports for members of the Federation as well as for the Federation as a whole.

The National Membership Coordinator ensures that each member institution has an OR, receives the invoice for the National Membership, and serves as the point of contact between ICPSR and the National Membership. The National Membership Coordinator usually also serves as the OR for one of the member institutions. In addition to having full access to the OR site, the National Membership Coordinator has the necessary permissions to run utilization reports for members of the membership as well as for the membership as a whole. National Memberships exist in countries outside of the US and Canada.

OR Role in ICPSR Governance

ORs participate in the governance of ICPSR in two ways:

  1. Through their involvement in the Council candidate-nominating process and approval of the slate of nominees.
    ICPSR is governed by a council of twelve scholars and data professionals who meet three times a year. They guide and oversee the activities of ICPSR. Six new council members are approved by the ORs every two years to serve four-year terms. The nominating committee of Council, with input from ICPSR staff, ORs, and council members, nominates a slate of six candidates. Those six new council members are then approved by the ORs to serve four-year terms. The approval process (electronic voting) typically covers a two-month period that commences shortly after the end of the biennial OR meeting. Learn more about ICPSR’s Council.
  2. Through their award nominations.
    ORs are also involved in the nomination of individuals for ICPSR’s Warren E. Miller and William H. Flanigan Awards, which are biennial awards to individuals who have distinguished themselves in their service to the social science community. During the nomination phase, ORs, among others, are asked to nominate individuals who have had a profound impact on social science research and infrastructure (Miller Award) and individuals who have made significant contributions to the social science community and served as ICPSR representatives (Flanigan Award).

    OR/DR Researcher Passport Account

    Every OR/DR must have a Researcher Passport account to access particular pages on the ICPSR website. This account provides access to the OR page of the website, including the OR Meeting pages. The account allows the OR/DR to run utilization reports and Summer Program participation reports. Additionally, the account has expanded permission to download data from the ICPSR website. It can be used from any location, at any time, to download data limited to members-only access.

    Selection of OR/DR

    Member institutions must have one OR. Selection of a DR is optional. We encourage member institutions to fill both contact positions and have found that a successful arrangement tends to combine an OR from the library and a DR from an academic department in the social sciences.

    The OR/DR needs to be familiar with ICPSR resources in order to assist users with data-related questions. Resources include the Online Learning Center, Summer Program, and promotional resources developed to support the OR/DR. Additionally, the OR/DR needs to know about the resources available on campus to assist users with data-related questions, such as use of a statistical software set-up file. In the event the OR/DR does not have those skill sets, he/she should refer data users to individuals or resources on campus that do.

    Changing an OR/DR

    Requests to change an OR or DR generally come from the member’s OR. They should include the new OR/DR’s complete contact information, including office location, phone and fax numbers, and email address. If the OR is being replaced, the request may come from his/her immediate supervisor or department manager. Requests from outside the OR/DR department may be referred back to the OR and/or the department in which he/she resides. The sitting OR/DR is copied on all correspondence. To request an update, send an email to icpsr-help@umich.edu with the name and contact information for the new Representative.

…resources and assistance available to data user community from ICPSR

User Support

The Help and User Guide allows the user to find answers to their questions about ICPSR resources. Additionally, there are tutorials, webinars, and links to ICPSR social network sites. Contact information and hours for User Support are prominently displayed. You are welcome to link to this resource to support data users.

Staff Support for OR/DR

The central point of contact between ICPSR and the OR/DR is Membership and User Support. The staff in Membership and User Support can address questions about invoices, promotional materials, and users’ questions. This group can reset passwords, enable off-campus access, and direct you to the proper staff member if you need additional assistance. Other matters that User Support can assist you with include: the possibility of creating a set-up file for a study that does not have one, information on accessing restricted data, and issues related to access. If you have a question and you’re not sure where to go, contact Membership and User Support: ICPSR-help@umich.edu  or 734-647-2200.

OR Promotional Materials Resources

ICPSR produces a number of promotional materials designed to assist you in expanding awareness and use of ICPSR resources. You can request that printed materials be mailed to your institution. These materials include posters targeted at social science disciplines explaining ICPSR resources, User Guides that provide an overview of ICPSR resources for the new user, and brochures developed by the topical archives detailing what they offer to data users.

Webinars by Request

Using this form, OR/DRs can request a customized webinar to be broadcast for their campus community, with the goal of improving understanding of ICPSR and its data resources. Topics range from an in-depth orientation to ICPSR to a particular data collection or teaching tool. These webinars are also appropriate for institutions investigating membership in ICPSR.

…about resources and help available to data user community from ICPSR

ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research

The Summer Program offers a comprehensive, integrated program of studies in research design, statistics, data analysis, and social methodology. Basic methodological and technical training is offered, along with opportunities for advanced work in specialized areas. The ORs assist ICPSR in publicizing the Summer Program by receiving and distributing the announcement of the class schedule and generally promoting the resource on campus. Students from member institutions enjoy more than a 50% discount on tuition.

Data Communication Scholarship

The purpose of the scholarship is to recognize students from member institutions for creating videos about ICPSR data. The objective is to encourage students to explore the social sciences by navigating and searching ICPSR, identifying data of interest, and using the information provided for each study to determine potential uses of the data. Additionally, winners are published on the ICPSR website.

Instructional Resources

ICPSR resources give instructors and students access to lesson plans and exercises to improve quantitative literacy and familiarity with behavioral and social science data. Resources for Instructors provides more than 50 Data-Driven Learning Guides, which employ online analysis of ICPSR data to teach core concepts.

…in OR meetings, Council elections, and manage ICPSR resources on your campus

Implement and Manage IP-based Access

ICPSR provides direct access to the ICPSR data holdings for all students, faculty, and staff at ICPSR member institutions. Any user with a Researcher Passport account and an authorized IP address from a member institution may download data from ICPSR. All ICPSR member institutions are eligible to participate.

To implement direct access on a campus, ORs should email their IP ranges to ICPSR (icpsr-help@umich.edu  ). Once IP-based access has been implemented, the local representative receives a daily manifest that summarizes the authorized ordering activity for their institution over the previous 24 hours. ORs can change their institutional settings, including opting out of receiving the daily manifest, at Institutional Settings .

Initially access to ICPSR data was restricted to campus IP addresses. Currently, though, users validate their Researcher Passport account semiannually from a campus computer and then download data from anywhere. Even though users can access data directly, many continue to seek assistance from ORs/DRs in locating, accessing, and working with ICPSR data.

OR Biennial Meeting

A biennial meeting, taking place in odd-numbered years on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, is held with the goal of training OR/DRs on using the resources available through the website and updating them on the future plans of ICPSR. The slate of potential council members is presented. On even-numbered years, a Social Science Data Fair is offered in the fall consisting of a series of webinars presenting training on data-related topics such as data management plans, managing confidential data, and bringing data-related materials into the undergraduate classroom. Data Fair sessions are free and open to all interested individuals.

Elect Representatives to ICPSR Council

The members of ICPSR elect a Council of twelve who serve four-year terms without compensation, meeting three times a year; six new Council members are elected every two years. The Council is the executive committee of the members and is authorized to act on behalf of the members to oversee administrative, budgetary, and organizational policies and procedures of ICPSR. The Chair of the Council presides at the biennial meetings of Official Representatives and at the Council meetings. The past Council Chair continues as an ex-officio non-voting member of Council for one year after his or her term concludes.

…data users and ICPSR in communications about the ICPSR resource on your campus

Researcher Passport Account

Each ICPSR data user must register by creating an ICPSR Researcher Passport account. The account consists of the user’s e-mail address and a password. Researcher Passport users at ICPSR institutions can optionally provide their name and e-mail information to their OR. All Researcher Passport account holders can download documentation files and data files housed within the topical archives. A second level of authentication is necessary in order for Researcher Passport users to download members-only data. That second level of authentication uses the IP addresses member institutions supply to ICPSR. Users at member schools that have not submitted IP ranges will need to contact their Official Representative for access to members-only data.

Integrating ICPSR Metadata Records into Local OPACs

ICPSR shares its metadata records with the membership to promote wider awareness and use of ICPSR’s social science data resources. In particular, we encourage members to integrate the records into local Online Public Access Catalogs (OPACs) intended primarily for the user of faculty, staff, and students. Note, though, that there are some stipulations on the use of our metadata records.

Bibliographic Citations

For each ICPSR study, the study description contains a bibliographic data citation to be used in manuscripts based on ICPSR data. Additionally, ICPSR appreciates receiving citations of publications utilizing ICPSR data. These citations become part of ICPSR’s Bibliography of Data-Related Literature. This information also allows ICPSR to provide funding agencies with essential information about the use of archival resources and facilitates the exchange of information about the research activities of ICPSR members. Users can submit these citations via email to icpsrbibliography@umich.edu  . ORs should encourage researchers to submit citations.

Bibliography of Data-related Literature

The Bibliography of Data-related Literature is a database of citations to published and unpublished articles, books, dissertations, and conference presentations that have analyzed or significantly discussed ICPSR data. The Bibliography, with over 65,000 citations to date, is also available via the “Related Publications” link beneath the Table of Contents navigation on the study description pages.

Searching the Bibliography. Just as in the main ICPSR data catalog, you can explore the Bibliography using faceted searching. Note: ICPSR does not retain a copy of the publications listed in the Bibliography. Therefore, it is not a full-text search of a journal article or report, only a search of the elements of the citation, such as the title and author.

Getting full text. ICPSR provides links to the full text of publications where possible, but your access will be dependent upon your institution’s subscriptions and/or the nature of the publication. Next to each citation in the Bibliography, you will see “Full Text Options” followed by one or more linked words. For journal articles, there will be a Worldcat link, as well as a Google Scholar link. The DOI (Digital Object Identifier) will also appear when it is available. For freely available reports, presentations, and other resources, the URL or PDF URL will appear when possible.

Exporting citations. If you want to export a citation from the Bibliography, you can click on the “Export Options” link below a given citation to export it directly to your reference management software, or save it in RIS format.

Submitting citations. If you are aware of any publications analyzing ICPSR data, and its citation is not yet appearing in the Bibliography, we encourage you to submit these citations via email to icpsrbibliography@umich.edu  .

Dissemination Formats

All ICPSR study files contain ASCII text data and documentation files. Many also contain setup files and portable ready-to-go files for three major statistical packages: SAS, SPSS, and Stata. A small number of data collections are still available in older formats like OSIRIS, EBCDIC, column binary, etc. There is an ongoing initiative to covert these file into the three major statistical packages.

Selected data collections at ICPSR are accessible through the Web-based Survey Documentation Analysis (SDA) tool. Users can explore and analyze the data on the Web without the need to download files or use another statistical software package. SDA provides access to a wide range of statistical capabilities (from contingency tables to multiple regression). The system also generates custom subset datasets that may be downloaded for use with traditional software packages.

On-Demand Creation of Setup Files

ICPSR strives to provide data in formats its users want. Although many setup files have been created routinely as ICPSR processed data, some older studies do not contain these “value-added” files. If you encounter such a study and need a setup file, please submit a request. We will make every effort to create the file for you in a timely fashion. Note, however, that as this is largely a manual process, the study must have unambiguous documentation and a manageable number of variables. The complexity of the study, number of variables, and condition of the documentation are all considered in determining whether a request for setup files can be added to the queue.

Deposit Data

ICPSR encourages researchers to deposit their data. The online form allows depositors to enter information about a submission using their Web browser and to upload files to ICPSR through a secure Internet connection. Users may save information they have entered in the form at any stage, and return to complete the form later at their convenience. The form can be accessed by multiple users, allowing collaboration and verification of deposit form information with colleagues and staff.

The Guide to Social Science Data Preparation and Archiving is available to assist data producers in preparing their collections for deposit. The Guide offers guidelines and suggestions that are useful for anyone creating digital data.

Secure Restricted Data

To obtain access to secure restricted data from ICPSR, the researcher must complete and submit an application, agreement form, data protection plan, curriculum vitae (CV) from all individuals who will be accessing the restricted data, approval from their Institutional Regulatory Board (IRB), and the necessary signatures from university administrators who have the authority to sign contracts on behalf of the university. Information on accessing these restricted data is found within the study description on our website. Currently the data are provided to the principal investigator via secure download. Please note, some studies are available only in our Virtual Data Enclave and some are available in both secure download and the Virtual Data Enclave. Additional information will be provided upon approval.

Run Utilization Reports

Accessed from the OR Site, the utilization reports tell of the usage of the ICPSR resources in several ways:

  • General Summary Statistics contain the web downloads and Survey Documentation Analysis (SDA) usage for the last three fiscal years,
  • Category Comparisons and Frequencies of Download Summary Statistics contains the basic downloads information for the last fiscal year,
  • User Statistics provides a list of users at your institution who have downloaded data,
  • Summer Program Participation Report provides information on the summer program participants for your institution for the year you specify

Communicating with ICPSR

ORs are encouraged to submit to ICPSR suggestions on new data to be acquired, comments on the quality of services received, and share information about problems encountered with data and documentation. ICPSR also welcomes proposals for new or additional services and tools that might be provided. On occasion, ICPSR staff will request specific information from ORs through mail, email, and web surveys and questionnaires. OR completion of these forms is very important since ICPSR uses the information for internal planning purposes including improved services to ICPSR members.

It is also very important that ICPSR be notified in writing of any changes in email addresses, phone numbers, or mailing addresses for current ORs. In order to better serve users at member campuses, ICPSR must also be promptly informed in writing of any changes in OR staff. All such notices should be accompanied by a complete mailing address, including building name, room number, and street address, for future mailings, and other contact information, such as voice and fax phone numbers, and email address. This information should be forwarded to the ICPSR Membership Coordinator .

Affiliates – students, faculty and staff at the college, university or specialized school that has ICPSR membership. This does not include alumni who retain a university email address.

Associate Members – institutions that are government, research, nonprofit, or commercial ventures. Associate membership does not carry voting privileges.

ASCII – (pronounced: AS-key) the format in which ICPSR archives data.

Bibliography of Data-Related Literature – a listing of publications that cite ICPSR data.

Browse/Search Data by Topic – a method of searching ICPSR data holding based on the Thematic Category to which the subject belongs.

Codebook – a document (file) that provides information on a particular study, including the structure, contents, and layout of the data file(s).

Daily Manifest – a listing of all data downloaded during the previous 24-hour period that is provided to the OR/DR.

Data – electronic numeric values that represent observations for variables.

Data file – the raw collected data from which statistics may be extrapolated. It consists of rows and columns of alphanumeric characters. ICPSR data are typically formatted as ASCII data. The file displays a .txt extension.

Expert Staff – member of ICPSR and its archives whose job it is to acquire, process and archive data, and have a solid understanding of those materials.

Federation – a membership in the US or Canada consisting of more than two logically related institutions.

Federation Coordinator – person who administers the Federation, also called the HubOR.

Freely available data – data that are made available for download to everyone under the terms and conditions of the funding agency or principal investigator.

Guest user – an anonymous authentication used to download data by users who choose not to be identified. This is only available through some of the topical archives.

HubOR – the OR for a Federation. The HubOR ensures that each member institution has an OR, receives the invoice for the Federation, and communicates between ICPSR and the Federation.

Institution – colleges, universities, and specialized schools that are in the business of higher education. They are the target market for ICPSR membership.

Member/Member Institution – a college, university, or specialized school that pays membership dues to ICPSR in exchange for access to data, discounted summer program fees, or other services. The member institution, in turn, makes this access available to its affiliates.

Members-only data – data that are limited for download to ICPSR members and their affiliates. In some cases, these data are available to nonmembers for a fee. However, there are some studies that may not be sold to nonmembers.

Metadata – information about data. Each study has a metadata file called the Description file. It contains information about the study such as its scope, the funding agency, the principal investigator, and details about the processing of the data.

Researcher Passport – ICPSR’s user registration system. Anyone who wishes to download data from ICPSR’s website is required to have and use a Researcher Passport account.

National Membership – A group of institutions from a single country outside of the US and Canada that join together for the benefit of ICPSR membership.

National Membership Coordinator – person who administers the National Membership.

Osiris – a software package that was used to process numeric data by ICPSR in the 1970s and 1980s.

Series/Series Data – study information that has been collection in a given research area or among a specific population group repeatedly over time.

Contact Us

Mailing Addresses

Street Address:
ICPSR
330 Packard Street
Perry Building 1203
Ann Arbor, MI 48104

U.S. Postal Service Address:
ICPSR
University of Michigan
PO Box 1248
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248

Courier Service Address:
ICPSR
330 Packard Street, Room #1120
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248