If you’re looking for US Census data the Oklahoma Dept. of  Libraries  has just updated their site with resources such as “How to use Census data: guides and handouts about data from the U.S. Census Bureau”.

It also includes links to three how-to guides about Census data:  **Choosing Census Data**– How do you choose between Decennial Census data, American Community Survey (ACS) data, and Annual Population Estimates Program (APEP) data? This will help you and your customers make “Best Practices” choices.

**Mixing Census Data Types Together** – Mixing Decennial Census data, ACS data, and APEP data together is a no-no at the Census Bureau. But here at the Oklahoma State Data Center we know that our customers mix different types of Census data together regardless of the statistical inaccuracies of doing so, so we offer this guide to help you work with customers who insist on doing this.

* *Using American Community Survey Data** – How do you work with1-year, 3-year, and 5-year ACS data? This is another “Best Practices” guide. It is essentially the same guide published by ALA/GODORT at http://wikis.ala.org/godort/images/4/42/Beleu-occasionalpaper3.pdf

From Docuticker:

“The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 36.7 million of the nation’s population (12 percent) were foreign-born, and another 33 million (11 percent) were native-born with at least one foreign-born parent in 2009, making one in five people either first or second generation U.S. residents. The second generation were more likely than the foreign born to be better educated and have higher earnings and less likely to be in poverty. In 2009, 59 percent of the native-born 25 and older with at least one foreign-born parent had some college education and 33 percent had a bachelor’s degree. That compares with 45 percent of the foreign-born who had some college and 29 percent who had a bachelor’s degree. “– Docuticker

You can read the news release from the  US Census Bureau here. Detailed tables can be found here.

Thanks to Christina from David Lam library whose eagle-eye spotted these two new resources!

1) AidData is a database of data and information on foreign aid finance.  It just went live this week, and while still in Beta, contains over 1 million records.   “AidData attempts to capture the universe of development finance, increase the value of data by providing more descriptive information about development activities, provide data in an accessible format, and strengthen efforts to improve donor and recipient strategic planning and coordination.”

You can search by keyword within different databases covering: donor information, recipients (ie, countries or regions), purpose, activity and years.

2) Google has teamed up with the US Census Bureau to develop a new mapping tool which will allow you to track mail participation rates in the 2010 US Census.  You can view the “Take 10 Challenge Map” on the US Census Website here. Just type in a town/city and its state or type in a zipcode to see the current participation rate and the rate for the 2000 Census.  Note, as the Census has only just launched there is not much data below the state level.  Check back in a few weeks to see figures for smaller geographic units.

An interesting article from the NY Times documents the difficulties in tracking people in large metropolitan cities  such as New York.

Also the 2010 Census website has detailed information about the upcoming US census.

The US Census Bureau conducts an official census every 10 years, with the next one coming up in March 2010.  In between years the Bureau conducts a variety of smaller-scale nationwide surveys, including the American Community Survey (ACS).  The ACS is sent to approximately 3 million households.  The most recent 3 year estimates based on surveys conducted from 2005 – 2008 have just been released for public use.

“The ACS collects information such as age, race, income, commute time to work, home value, veteran status, and other important data…. These 3-year estimates are available annually for geographic areas with a population of 20,000 or more, including the nation, all states and the District of Columbia, all congressional districts, approximately 1,800 counties, and 900 metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas, among others.”