Author Archives: James A Jacobs

1940 Census: An Invitational Workshop with the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Science Foundation, National Archives and Records Administration, and the University of Maryland

In preparation for the release of the 1940 Census on April 2, 2012 - which will be, for the first time, available digitally - a workshop hosted at the National Archives at College Park, MD was held in partnership with four agencies: the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Science Foundation, NARA, and the University of Maryland College Park. The workshop was videotaped, and presentations are available as PowerPoint (PDF). Workshop Participants included social scientists, historians, representatives of social science research and data centers, computer scientists, and officials of NARA and other agencies. While discussions centered around the 1940 population census, key planning strategies emerged to investigate possible ways to enhance the value of the scanned records for scholarly and scientific research through advanced computer methods that will facilitate access to other socio-economic data sets. The workshop agenda focused on the following goals:

1. Increase the usefulness of the scanned images for historical, social, scientific, and other research;
2. Expand the possible types of research;
3. Examine possibilities for NARA to collaborate with another institution serving some or all of the relevant populations of researchers;
4. Further scholarship through the introduction of technological tools that can exploit a wider applicability.

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