Introduction

General Statistical Sources

Subject Specialized Statistical Sources

Databases

Citing Print and Electronic Sources

Internet Resources

Introduction

Federal, state, local and foreign government publications offer some of the best statistics sources. The Greenlease Library is a selective government depository for federal documents. The library selects from over 25,000 new publications issued yearly by the federal government. Our collection contains valuable and interesting information on a variety of topics. Other libraries in the Kansas City area have state, local and foreign government publications.

For more information about government documents, please see our Government Publications page.

Private publishers also publish valuable statistical information. The sources listed below are a mixture of government and privately published sources. The sources listed on this page are only a sample of the statistical sources available in the library.

For assistance with identifying and using statistical sources please refer questions to the Information Desk on the main floor of the library.

General Statistical Sources

Many sources of statistical information are available in our reference collection. Some example of these sources include:

Statistical Abstracts of the United States
(REF. HA 202)
This is an annual compendium of statistics published by the United States Bureau of the Census. The current edition is only available in print. Selected older editions are on the web at http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/past_years.html

County and City Data Book
(REF. 202 A36)
This is a supplement to Statistical Abstracts. It concentrates on statistics for counties and major metropolitan areas and is published irregularly by the United States Bureau of the Census. Available on the web at http://www.census.gov/statab/www/ccdb.html

Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970.
(REF. 202 B87 1976)
This 2-volume compendium gives annual, time-serials data from the years just before the United States was established through the late 1960s. Many years available on the web at http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/statab.html

Employment, hours, and earnings: states and areas.
(REF HD 8064 E46 2005)
A compendium of employment, earnings, prices, productivity, and other labor data, nationally, although it does include a set of tables on Employment, Hours, and Earnings by State.

Statesman’s Year-Book.
(REF JA 51 S7)
Current statistical information about the countries of the world, as well as some international organizations.

Europa World Year Book.
(REF JN 1 E85)
Extensive statistical and textual information about countries, as well as information about international organizations.

World Factbook.
(REF G 122 U56a)
Facts about individual countries as well as interntional organizations. Reference maps are provided in color. This source is produced by the United States Central Intelligence Agency. Available on the web at http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html

Subject Specialized Statistical Sources

The library has subject specialized statistical sources which are too numerous to be listed here.

Use the Subject List of Research Guides to identify statistical sources appropriate for a subject area.

Additional statistical sources available free on the internet can be identified on the Internet Sources Subject List.

Databases

Lexis-Nexis Statistical
Lexis-Nexis Statistical is an index to thousands of statistical documents produced by the United States government, state governments, organizations, research centers, international organizations and foreign countries. Some of the statistical documents are available full-text. Included on this site is the popular Statistical Abstract of the United States. This database contains the content of the print indexes American Statistics Index, Statistical Reference Index and Index to International Statistics.

A user's guide for this database is available in PDF format via Adobe Acrobat.

Connect to Lexis-Nexis Statistical.

For information on how to cite sources retrieved from Lexis-Nexis Statistical, go to Citing Print and Electronic Sources in Research Papers.

STAT-USA
This federal government database offers a variety of information on business, trade and economics. Access to STAT-USA is only available at the Information desk in the library.

Citing Print and Electronic Sources

Consult citation style manuals to make sure you give proper attribution to the statistical sources you use. See the guide to Citing Print and Electronic Sources in Research Papers.

Internet Resources

For those with internet access, the web is a great way to find resources. From online dictionaries and magazines to recipes and music, the web has it.

Population Reference Bureau
http://www.prb.org
This site provides population data sets according to criteria such as labor/employment, income/poverty, race/ethnicity and other factors. The data is pulled from the U.S. Census Bureau.

American FactFinder
http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en
US Population, housing, economic, geographic data via the US Census Bureau.

Bureau of Labor Statistics
http://www.bls.gov/
The best site for U.S. employment and labor statistics, including state and metropolitan areas.

Fedstats
http://www.fedstats.gov/search.html
This is search engine for statistics from over 70 government agencies.

InfoNation
http://www.cyberschoolbus.un.org/infonation3/menu/advanced.asp
This site allows you to compare statistics from up to five different countries.

US Census Bureau
http://www.census.gov/
The official site of the United States Census Bureau has been updated to include information from Census 2000.