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Jeff Essic
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Multi-disciplinary Resources: Quick Statistics

Good general resources, useful for lots of different subject areas or as starting points for choosing a project topic.

Statistical Abstract of the United States
D. H. Hill Reference HA202 .A4
but almost all library branches also have the most recent edition

Older editions kept in D.H. Hill stacks - check the catalog for location

Although also available online at http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/, this annual Census Bureau publication is easier to use in print. The most recent edition is available at the Reference Desk in D. H. Hill. Use the index to find the table numbers (not page numbers) relevant to your topic. While available nearly every year back to the late 1800s, content varies somewhat from year to year. Sources include public and private institutions, are always cited but may or may not make data publicly available beyond what is provided for the Stat Abstract. (If using online, open two browser windows, one to view the tables and one for the index.)

This resource is not intended to provide time series data. Sources, topics and coverage may vary from year to year, making time series analysis highly unreliable.

NationMaster
http://www.nationmaster.com/

Presents data from lots of different sources, always cited, that allows you to compare countries on various statistics and even create graphs. Analogous to an international statistical encyclopedia: covers lots of different topics.

Log Into North Carolina (LINC)
http://linc.state.nc.us

Fulfilling the North Carolina State Data Center's mandate to coordinate data produced by state agencies, this resource also provides North Carolina statistical data in broad subject areas from some federal agencies. Extensive time coverage from 1970s to present, and including State Demographer's population projections for future years.

Data for many subject areas:

FedStats
http://www.fedstats.gov/

Since the Federal government is one of the largest producers of statistics, this gateway was created to help the public more easily access data produced by over 100 Federal agencies. Allows you to search in a variety of ways: by agency, topic, geography, etc.

LexisNexis Statistical (NCSU only)
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/statuniv

From the NCSU catalog: "Indexes statistical data produced by the U.S. government, by important international intergovernmental organizations, and by knowledgeable professional and trade organizations, business organizations, commercial publishers, independent research organizations, state government agencies, and universities. Includes indexing for the American Statistics Index (1973- ), the Statistical Reference Index (1980- ) and the Index to International Statistics (1983- ). Previously known as Statistical Universe."

United Nations Statistics Division
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/

From its web site: "Compiles statistics from many international sources and produces global updates, including the Statistical Yearbook, World Statistics Pocketbook [U.N. publications] and yearbooks in specialized fields of statistics. It also provides to countries, specifications of the best methods of compiling information so that data from different sources can be readily compared."

Official Statistics on the Web (OFFSTATS)
by The University of Auckland Library
http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/subjects/stats/offstats/

Not limited to New Zealand, site provides centralized access to free statistics from official sources around the world. Search by country, region or topic. Data for individual countries can also be found in resources listed in the Regions and the Topic pages. Time series are frequently available and many data are downloadable as text or spreadsheet files.