New Decennial Census Resources Ray C Walling Summer

New Decennial Census Resources Ray C. Walling Summer 2007 Government Documents Intern Numeric and Spatial Data Intern

New Decennial Census Resources Part I: New Resources Available

Decennial Census Resources n New resources include: ¨ The Decennial Census Question Database ¨ The UMich Census Inventories ¨ The Block Report City Coverage Aid ¨ The Decennial Census Variable Database

Decennial Census Question Database (review) n n n Census Coverage: 1790 -2000 Purpose: To help librarians/patrons figure out whether a question was asked on a particular decennial census. Browse Questions by Date, 2000 equivalent, or tag Also includes background information URL: http: //www. lib. umich. edu/govdocs/hisc en/cqdb. xls

Possible Question 1: “What questions were asked for the 1790 census” n Answer: …. n

Possible Question 2: “Were questions ever asked about building materials for houses? If so when? ” n Answer: … n

Possible Question 3: “I noticed there was a question in the 2000 census about when buildings were built, when was this first asked. ” n Answer: … n

City Block Coverage Aid n n Census Coverage: 1940 -1980 Purpose: To help librarians/patrons figure out whether a city had block coverage for a particular decennial census. Includes report numbers for each decade and a highlighted box if it is covered in that decade. URL: http: //www. lib. umich. edu/govdocs/hiscen/bl oc 4080. xls

Possible Question 4: “I am doing research on housing characteristics of a certain neighborhood of Anchorage, AK; is there anyway to find details for any decade within the last 50 years? ” n Answer: …. n

UMich Census Inventories Census Coverage: 1790 -1990 n Purposes: n ¨ To help librarians and patrons find where resources are available (online, print, microformats, cds, etc. ) ¨ To catalogue additional online resources n URL: http: //www. lib. umich. edu/govdocs/his cen/cen#### (ex. cen 1940)

Possible Question 5: “The print volume of the 1950 Census Volume 2 -Alabama Section is missing, is there another place I can search? ” n Answer: … n

New Decennial Census Resources Part II: Real example of the use of these resources.

From the Patron: “I need to find general information about housing characteristics for neighborhoods in Chattanooga, TN for 1950…Where can I look? ” - Patron Question, July 2007

Reference Interview n n “Is there a particular piece of information that would be useful for your research? Or even an example of a statistic you are looking for? ” “I’m looking for all sorts of statistics; but for instance, I would like to know average rent in certain parts of the city? ”

Thinking Process n n n Is this information available for the 1950 census? Is Chattanooga covered in block statistics volumes? What is the quickest way to get this information for the patron.

Steps Find out if question is asked n Find out if block coverage is available n Find out where the patron can access this information n

Steps Find out if question is asked n Find out if block coverage is available n Find out where the patron can access this information n

Steps Find out if question is asked n Find out if block coverage is available n Find out where the patron can access this information n

New Decennial Census Resources Part III: Coming Soon!

Decennial Census Variable Database n n Census Coverage: 1790 -2000 Purpose: To help librarians/patrons figure out what statistics, variables, tables, and maps are available through online resources. Includes information on online resource, type of information (stat, variable, etc. ), Concept/Variable Name, Possible Divisions, Tags, and Geographies available Will be available Spring 2008.

New Decennial Census Resources Part IV: Any Questions?