Reference at Newman Library

Year: 2013

Federal Government Shutdown Cuts Access to Data

Thanks to the ineptitude of our federal government, many public datasets have ceased to be available until further notice. These are just a few that we use pretty heavily, but it’s likely that access to data from many agencies will be effected:

  • The Census – their website Census.gov and the American Factfinder are ENTIRELY UNAVAILABLE (see this notice)
  • The Bureau of Labor Statistics – their website is still up but it (and their datasets) will not be updated
  • The SEC – EDGAR is still up and running, as the SEC funds many of its programs through license and user fees.

For alternatives to the Census you can steer students to the NYC Dept City Planning for local data and to our databases (Social Explorer, Infoshare, Statista) and the NHGIS for local or national data.

Trial for PolicyMap

We’ve just re-activated our trial to PolicyMap, a US web-mapping database with statistical data of interest to people in business, public policy, and the social sciences. The last trial ran during the final exams period in the spring, and thus didn’t get much attention. The trial is active again from now until Oct 31st and is accessible on campus via our list of trial databases.

Feel free to take a look and ask faculty who may be interested to do the same, and send feedback to Mike.

A description from PolicyMap’s literature:

“PolicyMap provides access to thousands of data indicators that can be analyzed as layers, as well as data points, on interactive maps. PolicyMap’s data indicators are related to demographics, neighborhood conditions, real estate markets, federal program-eligible areas, money and income, lending activity, jobs and economy, education, health, and more. Data can be viewed on a census block or census tract level in many cases, city, county, zip, state, US, as well as by congressional district, school district, state house and state senate districts. PolicyMap’s data collection includes but also extends far beyond US Census data.”

“PolicyMap data can be presented as maps, tables, charts and reports that can be incorporated into papers, presentations, blogs and websites. In addition, students and faculty can upload unlimited amounts of their own address-based data for use in PolicyMap, and can share these maps with others.”

Part of the SRDS Database Only Works in Internet Explorer

Most of the SRDS database works in all browsers, but a portion of the content–the Local Market Audience Analyst–will only work in Internet Explorer:

SRDS screenshot

 

If you are using Internet Explorer 9, then this portion will work with no problem. If you are using Internet Explorer 10, then you’ll have to go into the “Tools” menu in the browser to make a change to the “Compatibility view settings.” These screenshots walk you through the change you need to make:

Step 1: Click “Tools” from the menu bar in the browser (if the menu bar isn’t showing, just hit ALT-T on the keyboard to make it visible).

Step 1 of web compatibility view settings

Step 2: From the list of commands, select “Compatibility View settings”

Step2 - select Compatibility View settings

Step 3: Type “claritas.com” in the box and click the “Add” button

Step 3 - Type claritas.com in the box and click the Add button

Step 4: Make sure claritas.com now appears in the large box and then click “Close.”

Step 4: Make sure claritas.com now appears in the large box and then click "Close."

 

That should fix the problem for the time you are working in the database. If you close the window, though, and then come back later to the database, you will likely have to re-enter these settings again.

SRDS is aware of this issue and is likely working on a fix for it.

 

New Database: Statistical Abstract of the United States

We just updated the link on our databases page that is for the Statistical Abstract of the United States. Previously, this link connected to the free version that stopped being published last year. Now, that link goes to an updated version of the publication from ProQuest.

One thing that students may find especially helpful about this version is the inclusion of MLA and APA citations for each table (scroll to the bottom of the table to find these).