Long Island Index website gets makeover

The Long Island Index, an encyclopedia-like catalog of all things Long Island, will take the wraps off a new interactive website Sunday.

The new site will have new features that will allow users to more easily query the index's surveys and research results.

New tools on the site also will allow users to more easily store and share index data with friends and colleagues, said Ann Golob, director of the Long Island Index. "We get calls to our office all the time asking for a particular data point or survey questions," Golob said. "We're trying to find ways for people to engage with the data."

For example, a student who needs Long Island's latest employment statistics to complete a school assignment will be able to conduct the search from the index's homepage. Or a parent who wants to see a map on enrollment changes at a neighborhood elementary school will be able to search for and download the data and share it with other parents by e-mail or on other media such as Facebook and Twitter.

The ultimate goal is for Long Island residents using index data to become active themselves. "We've made getting into finding our data super easy," Golob said. "My hope is people start using the data for understanding how decisions are made at the local level and get more involved."

Helping to achieve that goal is a new "Use the Data" section that will enable the user to download facts and charts and graphs, and then download a flier that can incorporate the user's information and then be distributed.

Users also can search a database of more than 1,500 charts, articles and survey responses. There are more than 4,000 maps of Long Island communities.

The index has been published since 2004. The Rauch Foundation, based in Garden City, funds the index, which is online at longislandindex.org.