Guide to the County and City Data Book
on CD-ROM

• Select Geographic Area
• Displaying Data
• Copy Function
• Technical Documentation

The statistics represented on this CD-ROM represent summary measures for specific geographic areas of the United States. Many of the statistics result from the 1990 Census of Population and Housing with 1992 population estimates for counties and cities as well as climate data for cities including averages for the period 1961 to 1990. A wide variety of subjects are covered ranging from Banking and Crime to Government Finance and Employment. Source references are given for each item of data included.

Select the Geographic Area

Select by highlighting any one of the four geographic areas for searching:

• States/State Groups
• Counties
• Cities of 25,000 or more
• Places of 2,500 or more

Note that the entire U.S. may also be considered a geographic area.

Press [ENTER] to initiate search.

[Top of Page]

After the geographic area has been selected, the list of subjects to be searched appears. Highlight the appropriate subject and press [ENTER].

The following options are available when viewing the data:

• [B] Allows the user to browse the highlighted data item for other areas within the selected geographic level.
• [C] Allows the user to copy the selected data for areas to be selected to a file. For more information, see Copy Function below.
• [F] Displays footnote information for the geographic area and the item selected.
• [G] Allows the user to select a different area within the selected geographic level, then displays the data.
• [L] Displays the meaning of symbols used in the tables.
• [P] Allows the user to print the selected data as displayed on the screen to a printer or a print file.
• [F1] Allows the user to view and print the Technical Documentation (see below).
• [ESC] Takes the user ack to the previous screen.
• [End] Exits the County and City Data Book

Copy Function

Users can copy records to files by pressing "C". Library patrons are required to supply their own diskettes.

1. First choose by geographic area. Any or all of the states/state groups, counties, or cities may be selected, however, only selected places may be copied because the vast size of the file if "all" has been chosen.
2. Next select the file format: ASCII, ASCII (delimited), dBASE III, or Lotus. The user is then prompted to give a file name.
3. At this point, the software will create technical documentation for the generated output file if the user requests it. The created technical documentation lists the fields as well as their descriptions, field length, and character type.

Allows the user to view the ASCII files in the Document sub-directory. The user can also print or copy the selected file. This can also be accessed by typing "GODOC" at the CD-ROM prompt.

[Top of Page]

Return to Guides to Research and Electronic Sources