Datasource types

A datasource stores the data that will be used to power projects in Blue. You can think about the datasource as a repository, or a container, for your data. The datasource is comprised of one or more data blocks into which your actual data (e.g. Students, Instructors, Courses, plus demographic data) will be imported into Blue. Note that datasources can be used in multiple Blue projects; you do not need to have unique datasources for each individual project.

When you create an evaluation Project in Blue, Blue needs to know what data should be used: what or whom is being evaluated (e.g. course, Instructor), who is completing the evaluations (e.g. students or other raters), plus who will be viewing reports and what relationships exist within the project (e.g. which Instructors are teaching which courses, which students are attending which courses). The Datasources that you create will enable Blue to make this connection between your Project and the data that will be used in your Project.

This connection between the Datasource(s) and the Project is enabled via the Definition, which establishes your evaluation Subjects and Groups and how they link to each other. The combination of the Datasource with the Definition creates a format for the Project data and organization that forms the basis of all Projects, Tasks, Questionnaires, and Reports in Blue.

In Blue, there are five different types of datasources that you can create, each with a different purpose:

User datasource

A user datasource is a type of datasource that stores the data for the people who will be involved in an evaluation, such as students, teachers, management, staff, doctors, patients, etc.

Remember that when you create a project in Blue, Blue needs to know what data should be used, including the people that will be involved in that Project. User Datasources are used to:

• Store user credentials and demographics.
• Assign roles within the project, including the subjects that will be evaluated, the raters involved in the evaluation, and the project administrators.

Note that only the User ID, First Name and Last Name fields are required; additional fields (such as email address, demographics, etc.) are optional, but will allow for more detailed analysis in Blue reporting,

Object datasource

An object datasource is a type of datasource that stores the data for the non-human items that will be involved in an evaluation, such as courses, classes, facilities, projects, etc.

Object Datasources are most frequently used when you are conducting a Course Evaluation; the Object Datasource will inform Blue which courses will be evaluated as part of your Project. Keep in mind that other items that are being evaluated, like classes, departments, facilities, etc. can also be provided in an Object Datasource.

Object Datasources have only two required fields:

• Unique ID (e.g. Unique Course ID) and
• Course Name.

Like a User Datasource, additional fields can be added to the Object Datasource for use in Blue reporting.

Relationship datasource

A relationship datasource is a type of datasource that enables multiple datasources to be linked together according to relationships and roles within the data (for example, Ari attends Course A as a student whereas Diana is the Instructor for Course A). Relationships can be established as user to user, user to object, or even object to object depending on the data at hand. Additional demographics related to the relationships can also be defined within a Relationship Datasource.

Relationships datasources are essentially linker tables; you would use a relationship datasource when you need to create a many-to-many relationship between two different groups of entities.

A relationship datasource needs at least two fields. Additional fields can be added to the datasource to further qualify the relationship between the entities.

In order to use a relationship datasource, the two datasources that will be linked together in the relationship datasource need to have already been imported into Blue.

Field filter datasource

A field filter datasource is a type of datasource that allows you to import more than one value per field. Field filter datasources can only be imported using LDAP or a CSV file.

Hierarchy datasource

A hierarchy datasource is a special type of datasource meant to work in conjunction with the organizational hierarchy to establish Dynamic Report Viewers.

A Hierarchy Datasource is intended to provide a method by which an organization’s hierarchy (ex: managers/direct reports or deans/department heads) is automatically updated in Blue, despite personnel shifts. Blue can leverage the hierarchical structure to provide report viewing access to the appropriate personnel.

Hierarchy datasources are used exclusively in course evaluations.

Examples

1. If you are conducting a Course Evaluation using Blue, your Project is going to need:
   • One User Datasource that contains a Data Block with all of the people data (students, Instructors)
   • One Object Datasource that contains a Data Block with all of the course data
   • One Relationship Datasource that links people with the course data and dictates their role (Instructor vs Student vs other)
2. If you are conducting a 360 Evaluation using Blue, your Project is going to need:
   • One User Datasource that contains a Data Block with all of the people data (subjects to be rated and their raters)
   • Note that 360 Projects only use User Datasources.
3. If you are conducting a Survey (using a Typical Survey format), for example an employee exit survey or a student experience survey, your Project is going to need:
   • One User Datasource that contains a Data Block with all of the people data (individuals who will be participating in the survey)