Find Facts Fast ... with
American FactFinder
by George Selby
March 29, 1999
With more than 5 millon
hits per week, the U.S. Census Bureau's Web site was recently
named (yet again!) one of the nation's "Top 100 Web Sites" by
PC Magazine.
Now, however, the statisticians
and Web masters at the Bureau have released a major improvement
to the site that will enable data users and researchers to locate
information even faster and more effectively than before. This
feature is called American
FactFinder.
American FactFinder
lets you:
- Obtain facts about your community
fast.
- Retrieve quick reports and
summary tables of statistics on population, housing, industry,
and business, all for the geographic areas of your choice!
- Search Census Bureau data and
then format the results to create customized tabulations.
- Create reference maps to show
boundaries and features for cities, counties and other geographic
entities.
- Produce quick thematic maps
to reveal geographical patterns in statistical data.
American FactFinder
accesses a wealth of data from the 1990 and forthcoming 2000 Decennial
Censuses of Population and Housing (vital information on the social
and economic characteristics of the Nation's population and their
housing), the American Community Survey (updates the decennial
census data collected every year), and the 1997 Economic Census
(provides detailed facts about the Nation's economy from the national
to the local level).
Three Releases
Planned for 1999
Three releases of American
FactFinder are planned for 1999. The first release is about to
take place and will reflect the data noted above. The second release
of the system in the spring of 1999 will have additional data
manipulation and mapping enhancements, while the third release
planned for the summer of 1999 will include 1998 American Community
Survey data along with additional manipulation capabilities. With
each release the Census Bureau will solicit user feedback to improve
and enhance the system throughout 1999 and 2000 in preparation
for Census 2000 data dissemination.
Get a Free
Brochure
A FREE brochure containing
a Quick Guide to American FactFinder is available upon request
by phoning the Census Bureau Customer Service Center at 301-457-4100,
or go to FactFinder@census.gov
to learn more about American FactFinder capabilities.
About the Author:
George Selby, a member
of the Federal Communicators Network, is a Supervisory Marketing
Specialist in the Marketing Services Office of the U.S. Census
Bureau in Suitland, Maryland. You may reach him at 301-457-3110
or george.selby@ccmail.census.gov.