Nonlegal Information Guide: Statistics, Business & Public Records

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Introduction
             • Access to databases

Beyond NYU Law Library
             • Bobst Library

Beyond NYU
             • Science, Industry & Business Library
             • Brooklyn Business Library

List of Topics Covered in This Guide

Introduction

Factual research in general does not get much attention in law school, partly because casebooks tend to focus on appellate decisions and not at the trial level where the facts of a case are analyzed, and partly because “general purpose” research is not what you came here to study. But the strategic use of factual information can actually win your case for you. The classic success story is Muller v. Oregon, 208 U.S. 412 (1907), which concerned a state statute limiting the working hours of women. In that case, Mr. Louis D. Brandeis convinced the Supreme Court that the Oregon statute was valid on the basis of his archetypical brief, consisting of two pages of case law, seven pages of relevant foreign and American legislation, and ninety-four pages of statistical reports and data.

Furthermore, ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 2.1, regarding the scope of an attorney’s role as an advisor, encourages lawyers to "refer not only to law but to other considerations such as moral, economic, social and political factors, that may be relevant to the client’s situation." The rule's Comment 4 recommends referring a client to professionals in other fields when necessary, but also states that a lawyer may have to propose a course of action that defies the advice of those experts; both rule and comment imply the necessity of research in extra-legal subjects.

You may find that factual information, although important to you and your client, but that the level of inquiry can be quite challenging. This guide is designed to assist you in some of the more detailed subject areas.

Practically speaking, statistics ("records, reports, statements, or data compilations, in any form....") if provided by "public offices or agencies, setting forth (A) the activities of the office or agency, or (B) matters observed pursuant to duty imposed by law as to which matters there was a duty to report...," according to hearsay exception 803 (8) of the Federal Rules of Evidence, may be able to be introduced as evidence in lieu of, or in support or impeachment of an expert witness. Thus many of the sources cited here are government documents or Web sites.

LexisNexis and Westlaw are given only a cursory mention here, but both services contain useful nonlegal databases, such as those for current news or SEC data.

Access to Databases

Please be aware that access to the subscription databases included here is limited to NYU Law School students and faculty with Net ID's and passwords.

If a password is required, and you are at an NYU Law School computer terminal, clicking on the link • Password Required will take you to the Password Information page. Then click on NYU Law School Web Applications Login; enter your Net ID and password to get to the Password List. In some cases, the password is not online and must be obtained from a reference librarian.

BEYOND NYU LAW LIBRARY

This guide refers you first to Bobst Library, and then identifies some excellent local business libraries to visit if you have difficulty finding the information you seek at NYU. Links to several online subject-specific research guides are provided in bulleted lists at the beginnings of some topics, along with some articles from LLRX.com (the Law Library Resource Xchange) and some books, to assist you in formulating a research strategy and to direct you to the most auspicious sources.

Bobst Library, on the Web at: http://library.nyu.edu
70 Washington Sq. South
New York, NY 10012-1091
(212) 998-2500

If you are unable to find the information you need on the Web or at NYU, you should know that New York City has two excellent business libraries. They both offer electronic information, but some of their databases are only available on-site and require a physical visit to access them, and of course many of their resources are in hard copy. NB: Other libraries are only given as locations for sources not available locally at NYU.

Science, Industry and Business Library (“SIBL”), on the Web at: http://www.nypl.org/research/sibl/
188 Madison Avenue at 34th Street
New York, NY 10016
(212) 592-7000

Take the A, B, C, D, E, F, Q, 1, 2, 3, or 9 trains to West 34th Street (Penn Station), and walk east across 34^th Street to Madison Avenue. 

From SIBL’s homepage, click the link Databases at SIBL, or go directly to http://www.nypl.org/databases/sibldb.cfm for a list of electronic databases that are available on-site at SIBL.

Research guides, including such topics as Market Research and Patents and Trademarks, are available at: http://www.nypl.org/research/sibl/guides/.

Brooklyn Business Library  (“BBL”), on the Webat: http://www.biz.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/ 
280 Cadman Plaza West
Brooklyn, NY
(718) 623-7000

Take the 2, 3, 4, or 5 trains to Borough Hall, the A, C or F to Jay Street/ Borough Hall, or the N, R, or M to Court Street. If you don't exit on Court Street, it is one or two blocks away, depending on the line you take. It becomes Cadman Plaza in front of the court buildings.

Many of the electronic databases require entering a bar code number from a valid Brooklyn Public Library card.

List of Topics & Subtopics Covered in This Guide:

Accident Reports
Census Data
Company Research
          •  Public companies
          •  Private companies
          •  Wholly owned subsidiaries
          •  Current awareness sources for company research
Court Statistics
Criminal Statistics
Economic Data
Education Data
Employment Data
Environmental Compliance Data
Financial Information
Foreign & International Statistical and Business    
   Information
Government Data, Generally
Industry Data
Medical Research & Data
Public Records
        •  Bankruptcy
           •  Criminal records
           •  Incorporation in NY
           •  Motor vehicle records
           •  Professional licensing records
           •  Uniform commercial code filings
           •  Vital records
Statistics & Law
Statistics Research, Generally
Statistics on the Legal Profession
Weather Data

Accident Reports:

The sources that follow are for federal accident statistics. For NYS motor vehicle accidents, see Accident Reports infra, in Public Records, Motor vehicle records.

The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent Federal  agency that investigates every civil aviation accident in the United States and significant highway, marine, pipeline, hazardous materials, and railroad accidents. It conducts special investigations and safety studies, and issues safety recommendations to prevent future accidents. Reports and publications from 1996 forward are available full text in PDF format, from http://www.ntsb.gov/. Older data, from 1962, may have online summaries or report numbers and may be accessed in the Public  Reference Room in Washington, or ordered. Fees may apply.

WorkplWorkplace Injury, Illness and Fatality Statistics: Some data is produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and is available at http://www.bls.gov/; some, including Inspection Data, is offered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration at http://www.osha.gov/.

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Census Data:

Most of the sources in this section pertain to current census data. If you need archival statistics, and Historical Statistics, infra, does not provide the information you need, be aware that the Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy of the New York Public Library, Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, has federal census records available in its microform room for New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, 1790-1880; for New York, 1900, 1910, and 1920; and the New York State Census for selected years. Detailed information on the Division’s holdings are on the Web at: http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/lhg/research.html#census. Statistical information from the U.S. Censuses, 1790-2000, is available at SIBL.

American FactFinder: Link to it from the Census Bureau’s home page at http://www.census.gov/ or go directly to: http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en for population, housing, economic and geographic data.

County and City Data Book: (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census: U.S. G.P.O., 1952- ) NYU LL, Reference HA202.A36 for the most recent edition; older editions in B1.

Data for all counties and cities with a population of 25,000 or more. This site: http://www.census.gov/statab/www/ccdb.html contains selected features from the bound volume.

Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1957: GPO,  NYU LL, Oversize (B1)  NYUL K11.U55.H4 1960.

Several volumes of historical census statistics are in NYU LL at this call number, as supplements to the Statistical Abstract.

State and Metropolitan Area Data Book, 5th ed.: (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census: U.S. G.P.O., 1980- ) NYU LL, B1  HA202.S84.

The Data Book contains a collection of statistics on social and economic conditions in the United States at the State and metropolitan area levels. Selected data for component counties and central cities of metropolitan areas are also included. http://www.census.gov/statab/www/smadb.html contains selected features from the bound volume.

Statistical Abstract of the United States (Washington: G.P.O., 1879- ) NYU LL, Reference HA202 .S7x for the most recent edition; older editions in B1.

The ‘National Data Book’ contains a collection of statistics on social and economic conditions in the United States, and selected international data. It serves as a guide to other sources of data from the Census Bureau, other federal agencies, and private organizations. The Statistical Abstract is available online at: http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical-abstract-us.html.

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Company Research:

• Research Guide on Company & Industry Information (RG#3): A Bobst Library guide, containing a partial listing of company and industry reference sources held by the New York University Libraries.  Available at: http://library.nyu.edu/research/rg3.html.
   

• Research Guide on Company Information: Available directly from this url: http://www.nypl.org/research/sibl/company/c2index.htm or link to it from the Research Guides link on the SIBL home page at: http://www.nypl.org/research/sibl/. Includes information on industry research.

Public companies:
Since the 1930's, the government has required that publicly traded companies disclose specific information to the government at specific times or under specific circumstances, in order to protect investors. That requirement makes researching public companies fairly easy, at least compared to private companies, as you will see. Information on the securities laws themselves, and more, is in the Securities Research Guide by Gretchen Feltes on the NYU LL Web page at: http://www.law.nyu.edu/library/securities.html.

Since 1996, companies have been required to make (most) filings electronically through EDGAR, the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system. Filings can contain valuable information, such as the salaries of executives (in the 8-K, or in proxy materials, such as the Def 14A) and the disclosure of material legal proceedings (in the 10-Q). Descriptions of form types used for electronic filing on EDGAR are available on the SEC Web site, at: http://www.sec.gov/info/edgar/forms/edgform.htm. PDF images of the forms themselves are posted at: http://www.sec.gov/about/forms/secforms.htm. SEC data is retrievable to researchers from a myriad of commercial sources (some free, some fee-based, some a combination), and for free from the SEC’s Website, http://www.sec.gov.

Why pay for information that the government supplies for "free"? Because some of the added editorial features may be extremely useful to you, such as the ability to download data into spreadsheets. A few of the commercial sources of SEC data are:

• FreeEDGAR: http://sec.freeedgar.com/ (free; kind of a truncated version of EDGAR Online)
   

• EDGAR Online: http://www.edgar-online.com/ (subscription required)
   

• TenKWizard: http://www.tenkwizard.com/ (subscription required)
   

• EdgarScan: http://edgarscan.pwcglobal.com/servlets/edgarscan (free interface to EDGAR data from PriceWaterhouseCoopers; registration required for some services. Primarily for quarterly and annual filings (10-Qs and 10-Ks))
   

• Securities Mosaic: http://www.securitiesmosaic.com/ (subscription required)

Pre-EDGAR data can be more of a challenge. Lexis and Westlaw both offer retrospective filings. Lexis’s SEC Online Database has full-text filings from July 1987 to September 1997 (current data in its EdgarPlus Database); Westlaw has full-text EDGAR filings from April 1993, and records of other filings from 1968 in EDGAR - S.E.C. Filings (data from 1996 to current in SECNOW, provided by Dow Jones Interactive).

Although they are not required to be disclosed to the SEC, annual reports to shareholders can also provide valuable information about public companies. According to the SEC’s Web site, "The Annual Report to Shareholders is the principal document used by most public companies to disclose corporate information to shareholders. It is usually a state-of-the-company report including an opening letter from the Chief Executive Officer, financial data, results of continuing operations, market segment information, new product plans, subsidiary activities and research and development activities on future programs." They can be acquired directly from a company in paper, posted on the company’s Web site, or accessed from sites such as AnnualReports.com, at http://www.reportgallery.com/, a free service that provides reports in pdf or html format. Or, for more Web sites and SIBL's archival holdings, go to http://www.nypl.org/research/sibl/financial/fs2.htm.

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Private companies:
When disclosure to the government is not required, because a company does not offer stock to the public, the problems for a researcher escalate. The following short list of sources may be useful. A wise researcher looking for data on a private company should access several sources, not just one, to avoid information gaps.

Dun & Bradstreet's Million Dollar Database: Available from Bobst’s Virtual Business Library, Company & Financial Information, under Company Profiles, at: http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/vbl/candf_info.html, the Million Dollar Database provides information on over 1,500,000 U.S. and Canadian leading public and private businesses with sales over $1 million. The International Million Dollar Database is not available from Bobst's Web site. 

Forbes 500 is available on the Web at: http://www.forbes.com. Largest Private Companies in the U.S., published by Forbes, is at BBL: Reference 338.74 F; the list of America's Largest Private Companies and the Forbes 400 Richest Americans list, among others, are both on the Web site. The latter can give you the net worth and some useful background information about wealthy citizens.

Hoover's Handbook of Private Companies: You can find Hoovers online at http://www.hoovers.com – "Company Capsules," news, industry and financials are free. As Bobst subscribes to Hoover’s Online: The Business Network, you will receive additional in-depth information on 14,000 public and private enterprises worldwide.

The following Hoover's Handbooks are available in paper at Bobst:
Hoover's Handbook of American Business, NYU Bobst REF6 HF5035 .H66
Hoover's Handbook of Emerging Companies, NYU Bobst REF6 HG4057 .A28618
Hoover's Handbook of World Business. NYU Bobst REF6 HF5030 .H662

Reference U.S.A.: An Internet subscription directory sold only to libraries, educational institutions and government agencies. It contains business data on about 12 million US businesses, and is available to you (on-site only) at SIBL and BBL. 

Standard & Poor’s Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives: Bobst REF6 Index HG4057.A4 – Latest edition only. It is also available on Lexis. 

Ward's Business Directory of U.S. Private and Public Companies: Bobst REF6 HG4057.A485 Non-circulating

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Wholly owned subsidiaries:
Although subsidiaries and divisions pose the same research problems as private companies, since a wholly-owned subsidiary of a public company is also a private company, there is a ray of hope: Information about the subsidiary or division will be included in the SEC filings of the public parent company. So, finding out "who owns whom" should become part of your company research, and the following sources will help.

LexisNexis Corporate Affiliations, also known as the Directory of Corporate Affiliations: Provides "the family tree of every major corporation in America." Available at Bobst REF6 HD4057.A219 and on Lexis, or by subscription. The company's Web site is: http://www.corporateaffiliations.com/dca/Content/index.html.  Also available on LexisNexis.  

Standard & Poor’s Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives: Bobst REF6 Index HG4057.A4 – Latest edition only. S&P has an index of subsidiaries and divisions, and of ultimate parent companies.

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Current awareness sources for company research:
If you are looking for information about a small, privately held company, newspapers and business journals may be your only option.

From the NYU LL home page, click Indexes & Databases and scroll to the end, to Non-Legal Databases Available through Bobst Library. There you will see a list, of which the following may be useful for statistical or business research. Clicking on the topics takes you to an annotated description of the individual databases (click "[About]"):

The following databases also appear as links on the NYU LL Indexes & Databases for the Law School Community page at http://www.law.nyu.edu/library/database_type.html, and contain resources specifically relevant to company research:

Clicking on these topics takes you to lists of news sources, working papers, associations, general resources on the topic, and more.

• Proquest Direct contains the following (and much more):

Click the Database drop-down menu to select.

More current awareness options are available to you from the Journal/Newspaper Articles link on Bobst’s NYU Virtual Business Library page, at: http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/vbl/index.html.

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Court Statistics:

Federal Judicial Caseload Statistics is also known as Judicial Business of the United States Courts. The current edition is on NYU LL Reference, KF180 .A35x; older editions are in B1. This Web site: http://www.uscourts.gov/judbususc/judbus.html contains reports from 1997.

Statistical data on the activities of the federal judiciary are also available online at: http://www.uscourts.gov/statisticsalreports.html.

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Criminal Statistics:

This section focuses on compilations of crime statistics, not on individuals' records. For that information, go to Public Records, Criminal records, infra.

• Dennis C. Benamati, et al., Criminal Justice Information: How To Find It, How To Use It (Oryx Press, 1998), NYU LL, B1 HV 7419.5.C75 1998. Organizes the types and sources of criminal justice information, such as statistical reports, directories, agency and foundation reports, academic books and periodicals, documents available from professional organizations, and bibliographies, as well as the Internet databases that the authors considered to be the most reliable and authoritative.

Bureau of Justice Statistics Publications are listed at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pubalp2.htm; hyperlinks are provided to publications in electronic formats.

Crime in the United States, 1995-2003 (also referred to as Uniform Crime Reports): "The Uniform Crime Reports give a nationwide view of crime based on statistics contributed by state and local law enforcement agencies." Available at: http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm. The site also links to Hate Crime Statistics (1995-2002), Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (1996-2002), the UCR Handbook, and the National Incident-Based Reporting System, in PDF format.

Criminal Justice Statistics for New York State: Contains statistics on crime and the response to crime for regions and counties within New York State by the Division of Criminal Justice Services at: http://criminaljustice.state.ny.us/crimnet/data.htm.

Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement: Victim, Incident, and Offender Characteristics: The data are based on reports from law enforcement agencies of 12 states and cover 1991 through 1996. Available online from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/saycrle.htm.

Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, 2002, 30th ed., is available online from SUNY Albany, at: http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/ or at NYU LL Reference HV 7245.N37b; earlier editions in B1. The Sourcebook presents a broad spectrum of national criminal justice data.

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Economic Data:

• Research Guide: Economic Statistics (RG#53): Available from Bobst at: http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/guides/rg53.htm. Contains sources available in Bobst Library’s 6th floor business collection and links to online statistics sources.
   

• Richard Stutely, Guide to Economic Indicators: Making Sense of Economics, 5th ed., Bobst REF 6 HC 103 .F9 2003.
   

• James B. Ramsey, The Elements of Statistics: With Applications to Economics and the Social Sciences, Bobst HA29 .R24 2002.

Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/. The BLS produces the Producer Price Index (PPI), which provides monthly data on changes in the selling prices received by domestic producers of goods and services and are considered to be a measure of inflation; and the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which provides monthly data on changes in the prices paid by urban consumers for a representative basket of goods and services. Other indexes: the CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U); the CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W); and the Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U), which is designed to be closer to a "cost-of-living" index than the CPI-U and CPI-W. The CPI indexes are also considered inflationary indicators.

Cost of Living data: Provided – for a small fee – by the American Chamber of Commerce Researchers Association, at http://www.accra.org.

EconLit: Covers national and international scholarly literature on economics from 1969. Topics covered include regional and urban economics; economic development, forecasting, and history; fiscal and monetary theory; and business and public finance. Available from the Economic & Statistical Information page in Bobst’s Virtual Business Library at: http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/vbl/eands_info.html.

Economic Indicators.gov: Available at http://www.economicindicators.gov/, from the Economics and Statistics Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce. Provides timely access to the daily releases of key economic indicators from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau.

Economic Indicators 1995-2004: Available in PDF and ASCII text, at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/indicators/index.html. Prepared and published monthly for the Joint Economic Committee, by the Council of Economic Advisers.

The Economic Report of the President is an annual report written by the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors that overviews the nation's economic progress. The latest report, and previous years’ Reports from 1995, in PDF format, are available on the Web, at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/eop/index.html.

U.S. Economic Census: Profiles the U.S. economy every 5 years; the last economic census was 1997. Data for 2002 will be collected in 2003 and published in 2004 and 2005; information is available on an annual, quarterly, or monthly basis. Available on the Internet at: http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/recent.htm.

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Education Data:

• Research Guide: Education (RG#4): From Bobst, at: http://library.nyu.edu/research/rg4.html.

ERIC: The Department of Education’s Educational Resources Information Center ("ERIC") may be accessed at: http://eric.ed.gov/.

The new ERIC online system, released September 2004, provides the public with a centralized ERIC Web site for searching the ERIC bibliographic database of more than 1.1 million citations going back to 1966. Effective October 1, more than 107,000 full-text non-journal documents (issued 1993-2004), previously available through fee-based services only, will be available for free.

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Employment Data:

Federal Employment Statistics: from the Office of Personnel Management's Fedscope database, at http://www.opm.gov/feddata/index.asp. The Office of Workforce Information and Planning Group in the OPM is the authoritative source for statistical information on the size and composition of the Federal civilian workforce. The primary source is the Central Personnel Data File, maintained by OPM.

Bureau of Labor Statistics: BLS, at http://www.bls.gov/, provides the definitive federal, state and local employment and unemployment data.

Environmental Compliance Data:

Enforcement and Compliance History Online ("ECHO"): Available at: http://www.epa.gov/echo/. ECHO is a Web tool developed and maintained by the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) for public use. The ECHO Web site, publicly accessible and EPA-maintained, provides compliance and enforcement information for approximately 800,000 regulated facilities nationwide.

Corporate Environmental Litigation: Publicly traded companies must file a form 10-Q and disclose material legal proceedings that are pending, especially when civil rights or environmental statutes are involved. You can find this information on EDGAR, from the SEC’s Web site, http://www.sec.gov/.

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Financial Information:

Under Financial Information & Filings, in Bobst’s Virtual Reference Library, Company & Financial Information, at: http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/vbl/candf_info.html, you will find a selection of databases that includes Bloomberg (current and historical data on equities, bonds, economics, analysis, and more, as well as current news); Morningstar (for research on stocks or mutual funds); and Datastream (an online database providing data on the financial markets of the world). NB: Databases with this symbol: are available only in Bobst.

Financial Services Information Sources at SIBL: Go to:
http://www.nypl.org/research/sibl/financial/fs1.htm for:

MergentOnline: Formerly known as FISonline, and also called the FIS Mergent database.  From Moody's Financial Information Services. Contains all SEC (EDGAR) filings and domestic and international annual reports. Available from Bobst’s Virtual Business Library, Company & Financial Information, under Financial Information & Filings, and available onsite at SIBL and offsite from BBL, if you use the bar code on your BPL library card. BBL also offers a "virtual walking tour" of the database, at: http://www.biz.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/index.cfm/bay/content.tutorials.htm.

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Foreign & International Statistical and Business Information:

• Research Guide: Economic Statistics (RG#53): Available at: http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/guides/rg53.htm. Section 3 is entitled: INTERNATIONAL STATISTICAL COMPENDIUMS.

• Worldwide Business Directories: A guide to general business directories covering geographic areas around the world held by SIBL. Go to: http://www.nypl.org/research/sibl/directories/director.htm or link from the Research Guide link on SIBL’s home page, at: http://www.nypl.org/research/sibl/index.html.
   

• International Statistical Yearbooks: A SIBL guide to its statistical yearbooks and Web sites of other countries that usually include basic statistics on land, population, etc., available at: http://www.nypl.org/research/sibl/yearbook/yearmain.htm

The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides Foreign Labor Statistics, at: http://www.bls.gov/fls/home.htm, as well as international comparisons of hourly compensation costs, productivity and unit labor costs, labor force, employment and unemployment rates, and consumer price indexes. Its Import/Export Price Indexes link, http://www.bls.gov/mxp/home.htm, contains data on changes in the prices of nonmilitary goods and services traded between the U.S. and the rest of the world.

EIU Country Commerce: Country Commerce, a publication of the Economist Intelligence Unit, outlines the business regulations of 60 countries and the European Union. It includes the rules on foreign investment, financing sources and techniques, M & A procedures and restrictions, competition and more. Click on the name, or link to EIU from NYU LL’s Indexes & Databases page, under Finding Legal & Governmental Resources. Country Finance, Country Profile, Country Report, and other EIU publications, are also available.

European Voice: "An online weekly newspaper which reports and analyzes the activities of the Commission, Parliament and Council of Ministers and also covers European business and industry news." Click on the name, or go to Indexes & Databases under Finding Legal & Governmental Resources.

Eurostat: The European Communities’ official statistical office. Provides direct access to the latest and most complete statistical information available on the EU, the EU Member States, the euro-zone and other countries. Click on the name; it is also available from the Foreign & Int’l. Databases link on the library home page. Go to European Union, European Commission.

Foreign Government Documents: Northwestern University Library provides a list of country names that link to official government portals or homepages; links listed below the country names go to legislative and executive branch institutions. Available at: http://www.library.northwestern.edu/govpub/resource/internat/foreign.html.

Statistical Resources on the Web: Foreign Government Data Sources: Available from the University of Michigan, at: http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/stats.html; click Foreign Governments.

International Statistical Agencies: From the US Census Bureau. Links to the Web sites of foreign statistical agencies and several international statistical agencies are posted at: http://www.census.gov/main/www/stat_int.html.

Government Information on the Internet (Bernan): Bernan is the largest private distributor of US GPO documents; the database also includes documents from the United Nations, the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, UNESCO, and the Food and Agriculture Organization. Click on the name or link to it from Indexes & Databases, under Finding Legal & Governmental Resources.

International Monetary Fund: The IMF is on the Web at: http://www.imf.org/external/index.htm. The site contains financial information on its 184 member states; click Financial Data by Country.

International Statistical Yearbooks: Include summaries of basic statistics on a country's land, population, economy, society, education, culture, and other areas of interest. Available from SIBL at: http://www.nypl.org/research/sibl/yearbook/yearmain.htm.

ISI Emerging Markets: Internet Securities, Inc., provides company and industry information, financial market data, and macroeconomic analysis for emerging markets. Content includes full-text news articles, financial statements, company information, industry analyses, equity quotes, macroeconomic statistics, and market-specific information. Click on the name or link from Indexes & Databases.

SourceOECD: The online library for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's 30 member nations is available from Indexes & Databases, or click on the name. Includes statistical database sets such as the Economic Outlook Database, Globalization, International Trade by Commodities Statistics, and many more. Data can be exported in a variety of formats, including Excel.

The United Nations Statistics Division compiles and disseminates international statistical data at: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/.

World Bank: On the Web at: http://www.worldbank.org/. The World Bank is one of the UN's specialized agencies and is made up of 184 member countries. It is one of the world's largest sources of assistance to developing nations.  Click Data & Statistics on the left for World Development Indicators 2004, selections from Global Development Finance 2004 ("the World Bank's comprehensive annual compilation of data on external debt and financial flows"), and more. NB: the complete, bound volumes of Global Development Finance 2004 (from 1997) are in B1 at HJ8899.W672, as are other publications not available on the Web.

World Trade Online: Contains latest issue of Inside U.S. Trade as well as an archive of issues back to 1993. Password required. Click on the name or connect to it from the Indexes & Databases page.

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Government Data, Generally:

Almost 1300 U.S. libraries, including many law libraries, are "government depositories," to which the Government Printing Office distributes information from all three branches of government through the Federal Depository Library Program. The public has free access to this information, which is increasingly – but not comprehensively, or exclusively – available over the Internet. Information about the Depository Library Program may be found at this Web site: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fdlp.html.

These are the major U.S. Federal statistical agencies:

For a more complete list of Federal Agencies with Statistical Programs, from FedStats, with links to their key statistics, go to: http://www.fedstats.gov/agencies/index.html.

The Research Guides that follow include several bound sources about using government information.

• Joe Morehead, Introduction to United States Government Information Sources, 6^th ed., NYU LL Reference ZA5055.U6 M67 1999.
   

• Research Assistance from Bobst: U.S. Government Documents (RG#23): A Bobst guide, available at: http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/guides/rg23.htm.
   

• Research Guide: Statistics & Data Resources: Available from Bobst Library at: http://library.nyu.edu/research/govdocs/statdat.html, this guide presents a brief selection of tools for finding statistics and data files, some useful resources to assist you in understanding and interpreting statistics, and annotated links to agency Web sites.
   

• Judith Schiek Robinson, Tapping the Government Grapevine: The User Friendly Guide to U.S. Government