Annual Report

July 1, 1993-June 30, 1994

 

 

 

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The National Crosswalk Service Center (NCSC) is a resource provided by the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee (NOICC) for its use and use by the network of state committees (SOICCs), other federal and state agencies and the private sector. The NCSC=s primary area of expertise is federal occupational and training classification systems and the relationships among them. Services are provided to customers through a variety of media and delivery modes.

The NCSC has been operated by the Iowa SOICC under a series of competitive special-purpose grants from NOICC since 1983. Although the center provides a variety of tools for use by federal and state agencies and private systems developers, the center=s primary resource is the NOICC Master Crosswalk. The NOICC Master Crosswalk links the major occupational and educational classification systems used by the federal government. This file, or portions of it, are provided to NCSC customers on diskettes or magnetic tape or in printed reports. Portions of the file are also available on the center=s electronic bulletin board service, the NCSC BBS.

The NCSC began the operation of an electronic bulletin board service in April 1989, in response to this change in the mix of products requested by its customers. Through this service, customers can review bulletins about new and anticipated NCSC products and services, download standardized or customized NCSC files, and leave messages for NCSC staff and other users. This form of delivery has saved a significant amount of NCSC resources and allowed center staff to concentrate their efforts on the development of more useful products and improving customer service in other ways. The table and graph on the following page illustrate the center=s overall level of activity in response to customer requests. The contribution of the BBS to the center=s operations is quite apparent when the data for the most recent five years is examined.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Use of the bulletin board system has increased steadily, and accounted for half of the center=s services by 1993. This has provided a number of advantages for both NCSC staff and customers. Increasing use of the BBS has allowed staff to concentrate on larger and more complex requests. In addition, time and packaging and mailing costs were saved for the equivalent of nearly 1,000 requests which have been filled through the BBS. (NOTE: for the purpose of this analysis, a request filled through the BBS is defined as a call during which a file was downloaded by the caller. The number of files downloaded during the call does not matter. While 984 requests have been filled through the BBS, more than 2,400 files have been downloaded. Users also gain significant advantages through the use of the BBS; they gain nearly immediate access to many of the center=s resources and are spared waiting for files to arrive through the mail.

The level of service provided to the center=s customers is a significant measure of activity. An analysis of the types of services and characteristics of the customers provides an added dimension. During the period covered by this report, NCSC staff processed 206 requests. Of these, 126 were from within the NOICC/SOICC network. NOICC and 40 SOICCs made requests of the center during the year.

 

The demands placed on the center by its customers reflect changes in the way the economy as a whole processes data. Requests for microcomputer products accounted for roughly three-quarters of all demand during the period. The graph and table which follow illustrate trends in customer requests.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is important to note that standardized material distributed by the NCSC in support of NOICC-sponsored projects or as part of the center=s data clearinghouse function (e.g., apprenticeship data) is not included in the number of requests. Support for specific NOICC initiatives, which has grown over time, is documented in a subsequent section of this document.

As we=ve noted, the center=s bulletin board system has become an important tool. During the period covered by this report, the BBS received 1,156 calls. Callers downloaded a total of 750 files and left 80 messages for NCSC staff and other users. The center added 60 new files to the system and 234 new users were added. .