STATISTICAL ABSTRACT ON CD-ROM


Type of Data on the Disk

Both the book version and the disk contain statistics from over 250 reports, both governmental and private. Sources are usually published but not always. Topics covered are both domestic and international. 

Subjects Included

Population				Business Enterprises			
Vital Statistics			Communications
Health and Nutrition		Energy
Education					Science
Law Enforcement & Crime		Transportation
Geography & Environment		Agriculture
Parks and Recreation		Forests and Fisheries
Elections					Mining & Mineral Products
Government Finances			Construction & Housing
National Defense			Manufactures
Social Insurance			Domestic Trade
Employment & Earnings		Foreign Commerce & Aid
Income & Expenditures		International Statistics
Prices					And More...

Software

Software program is called TextWareLite. To access help, hit F1 key or select HELP from a menu. There are some tables which are only accessible when Lotus 123 is loaded, which is not. These are called worksheet files. 

Types of Searches Possible 

--Look for a specific table in the INDEX

--Recommended search strategy: search for a word or phrase in STATISTICAL ABSTRACT--ALL TABLES


How to Search

1. Organization--The data are organized into "cardfiles" and "cards". A cardfile is a section of the Statistical Abstract. A card is text or a table in a cardfile. ALL TABLES and INDEX are also cardfiles. There are also cardfiles that contain appendices with text and data.

2. Searching in ALL TABLES--To open a cardfile for searching, press ENTER to select the option FILE on the menu bar and the selection OPEN from the FILE menu. Move cursor to STATISTICAL ABSTRACT--ALL TABLES and press ENTER. You may now search the opened cardfile.

3. Searching--Press SPACE BAR to pull up search box. Type a word you would like to search on the first line. The Word Wheel at the bottom of the box will show how many tables in this section contain the term.  Press ENTER if you wish to pull up the tables containing the searched word. Put an asterisk at the end of a term if you want to search for all variations of the word (ex. assault* = assault, assaulted, assaults...). Select a table to display and press ENTER. To go back to the results list, press F10.

4. Combining Terms--You will be using BOOLEAN logic which is the default logic on the search box. AND is also the default boolean term and it is not necessary to type it if you leave a space between the words. Ex. CRIME* GUN* will combine all forms of the word crime with all forms of the word gun. Press ENTER. To use other Boolean operators, type OR or NOT between terms.

5. New Search, Same Cardfile--Hit ESC, then type S for Search and press ENTER.

6. Exit a Cardfile--To exit a cardfile in order to read an appendix or search the index, press ESC, ENTER, and C to close file. You may then open a new file.

7. Searching the Index--This is a somewhat tedious method of searching but you may discover tables in the index which are listed under your search word as a subject heading even though the word doesn't appear anywhere in the table. First you must open the INDEX cardfile. SPACE BAR brings up Search screen. Enter a word and press ENTER. The INDEX is divided into sections. You may see a message such as "3 Hits". This means your word is in 3 sections of the index. Hint ENTER and then F2 to take you to your first match. When you've seen the last match in your section, type the + sign to take you to the next section. Note what table numbers you want to look at, then ESC. Choose FILE, CLOSE the Index, OPEN Statistical Abstract All Tables file. ESC, then choose SEARCH from the Menu bar. Type C for Go To Card. Enter card (table) number.

8. Printing--options are to print an entire table or a block from a table. To print a current table: ESC, ENTER on FILE, P (to select Print), Down Arrow (to select current card), ENTER.
To print a block, move cursor to beginning of block, SHIFT and arrow to mark block, ESC, ENTER to select File options, P for Print, ENTER to select blocked text.

9. Downloading--As when printing, press ESC to go back to main menu bar. Instead of choosing PRINT, choose PRINTER SETUP. At options screen, use TAB key to move cursor to PRINT DEVICES box and change to "DISK FILE". TAB down to blank line beginning DISKFILE: and type A:FILENAME to save to a floppy disk.

10. Exit System--ESC to Menu Bar, ENTER on FILE. Type X to Exit.


Prepared by Elizabeth Zuelke, Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County, 5-95