Products and Services Offered

The Archive is always looking for new ways to meet the needs of researchers in the field of child maltreatment. Below are descriptions of the Archive's current products and services. If there is an additional product or service you would like to see us offer, please contact us.

Dissemination of Datasets
The primary activity of the Archive is the acquisition, preservation, and dissemination of high quality datasets relevant to the study of child abuse and neglect. Datasets include data files, complete documentation, and technical support from the Archive staff. The Archive distributes data files in SPSS and SAS compatible format. Potential users are encouraged to review our holdings list to identify datasets of interest and then use our extensive on-line documentation to determine if these datasets will suit their needs. All users must sign and mail to the Archive a Terms of Use Agreement or license before they receive data.

NDACAN Publications
The Archive distributes several free publications. Our e-newsletter, The NDACAN Updata, reports on the Archive's activities, highlights new research conducted with our holdings, and announces the availability of new datasets. Our handbook entitled, Depositing Data with the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect: A Handbook for Investigators (PDF), outlines data processing and documentation standards for investigators who deposit data in the Archive. We also distribute a physical Archive brochure and a Current Holdings flyer.

Summer Research Institute
Conducted annually since 1993, the Summer Research Institute is a secondary data analysis workshop that combines classroom instruction with hands-on experience. Participants are selected on a competitive basis from a wide variety of disciplines including psychology, social work, and medicine. The primary goals of the Institute are to increase utilization of the Archive's holdings and to provide training in secondary analysis to child maltreatment researchers. The Institute also provides researchers a unique opportunity to network and collaborate with other scholars in the field. The Archive covers the cost of room, board, and tuition; participants are responsible for their own travel costs. In addition to the Summer Research Institute, the Archive makes presentations at national and international conferences.

E-mail List Serve for Child Maltreatment Researchers
In 1993 the Archive established an Internet discussion group (also known as a listserv, list, or E-conference) to facilitate information exchange and networking among researchers in the field of child abuse and neglect. The Child Maltreatment Research discussion group is the foremost scholarly E-conference in the child welfare field. The list is carefully moderated to ensure on-track discussions and a manageable volume of postings. The scope of the discussion group includes all areas of CAN research (e.g., epidemiology, etiology, prevention, consequences, intervention, and treatment) and the full range of research issues (e.g., measurement, instrumentation, statistical analysis, ethics). The list is not open to discussions of program or clinical issues except as they relate to evaluation research. There is no fee for joining or using the Child Maltreatment Research list. Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the CMRL list.

Support for Users and Contributors
The Archive provides free user support to data contributors and data users. The Archive publishes general and data-specific help documents and also answers questions submitted to our support e-mail.

Web Site
Detailed information about the Archive and its holdings can be found on this web site. All of our publications, order forms, and dataset documentation can be browsed and downloaded from this site.