The GED Online (Global Education Database Online) is a free resource produced by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The database, which provides two types of international education statistics, UNESCO or DHS (Demographic and Health Surveys, a USAID programme), allows the user to build a data table that compares a single education indicator for multiple countries and years or to choose one country, but designate multiple indicators. The UNESCO indicators are drawn from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and the DHS indicators from USAID’s nationally representative household surveys in over 60 developing countries since 1984.
The database interface loads quickly and contains only one graphic, the USAID logo. Use of the database is fairly straightforward. There is no search functionality aside from the user’s ability to follow an external link back to USAID, where they may search the USAID Web site. GED Online is set up to allow table‐building only. When building the table the user can simply use ctrl or shift keys for choosing multiple countries and years. After the table is built, there are options for saving and exporting the table in HTML, Excel, or Word format. The HTML format saves the file with an .exe extension and must be opened in an HTML editor such as notepad and resaved as an HTML page. This file would not open in an editor like Microsoft Front Page.
One really useful aspect of GED Online is that there are multiple and strategically placed links to the definitions page where the UNESCO and DHS Indicators are explained. First an UNESCO or DHS indicator section must be chosen. There are six sections for UNESCO indicators and three sections for DHS indicators, which contain different possible indicators to search based on divisions such as Primary Education, Secondary Education, Tertiary Education, Outcomes: Literacy, Resources and Socio‐Economic Context. The section to be searched must be selected, and once the user is on the indicators search page, then the indicators definitions page (for UNESCO and DHS respectively) is available from a link at the top of the page. The page defines each indicator that a table may be built on, employing such education‐related indicators as apparent gross intake rate, school life expectancy, primary gender parity index and socio‐economic context indicators such as GNP per capita, life expectancy, etc.
The database providers recommend retrieving data for a single indicator for those who are interested in doing cross‐country comparisons or time‐series analysis of one indicator. Users who are interested in accessing multiple indicators for one country should click on the link under the create country table section and build the table there.
Some things to consider when using this product are that while the coverage dates vary, there seems to be no data earlier than 1970, or more current than 1999 and there are no last updated dates given on the Web site itself. The publisher states that there are plans to update the database as new data become available, but as of this review, the database lacks currency. Some of the indicators only provide information back to 1997. Some indicators project data out to 2010, so there is not consistent coverage for each indicator. Also, while the acronym for DHS is defined, UNESCO is not. If a student or other user is unfamiliar with UNESCO this may be confusing. That UNESCO stands for “United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization” is not indicated anywhere on the site. In addition, there is no “Help” link. While there is some explanatory information on the GED Online home page and good directions on each search screen, there is no designated place to seek further help or even an FAQ.
There are some navigational issues concerning the site. There are essentially two toolbars; one is located at the top of the page, and the other is lower, directly above the page body. The lower breadcrumb trail is to be used to navigate and remain within GED Online. If the dominant toolbar located at the top of the page is used, the user is taken to the USAID site that does not offer links back to GED Online. The user is forced to use the “Back” button. Clicking on the “Search” link on the dominant toolbar takes the user to a search page on the USAID Web site; “Home” takes the user to USAID home, not GED Online home. The addition of a link to GED Online from the USAID home page and search page is recommended to ensure that if the user mistakenly clicks on a link on the USAID toolbar, they can at least return easily.
Although I have reservations concerning the currency of the data and found the navigation to be confusing initially, I highly recommend this database to academic and public libraries, especially those supporting educators. This is a unique resource for building statistical tables based on educational or to a limited degree, socio‐economic indicators. The international scope of the database ensures that it will be of use not only to educators, but also to researchers interested in the social, educational, and through inference, the economic health of a country or group of countries, as education is often an indicator of socio‐economic well being.
