IPUMS Redesign

This project will create two large parallel series of historical U.S. census microdata.  The first is a redesigned Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) incorporating Census 2000 and American Community Surveys (ACS).  The second is a restricted-use microdata archive containing 1.4 billion records from the censuses of 1940 to 2000.  The new restricted-use archive is the product of a Census Bureau initiative to harmonize all of the Bureau’s decennial microdata.  The Bureau has decided to use the IPUMS design for these internal files and will make them accessible through the Census Bureau Research Data Centers.  To reduce maintenance costs and ensure preservation, all documentation will be converted to new archival metadata standards.  Version control software will allow scholars to replicate data extracts used in published research.  Use of open-source software standards will allow both the Census Bureau and the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) to install, disseminate, and maintain IPUMS-format data.