Statistical Abstract of the United States
This compendium of statistics contains basic tables summarizing the vast amount of data collected by the U.S. Government agencies and other selected sources. Comparative international data are included as well.
The library has print editions back the very first in 1878. The newest edition is in the Ready Reference collection at C 3.134: 2006. Older editions are in the Government Documents section on the first floor.
Good for: The first place to look for statistics likely to be generated by a government agency. Great for when you’re not sure of who collects a certain type of data.
Example: Do more Americans own cats or dogs? Who collects that sort of thing?
Answer: More households have dogs (36.1%) than have cats (31.6%) and this is consistent across all income levels. The information was collected by the American Veterinary Medical Association and is included in the Statistical Abstract.
Also good for: Overviews of the major sources of statistics in a general subject area. The Abstract is divided into chapters by broad subject area. The beginning of each chapter is a narrative description of the major producers, studies and series, and publishers of statistics on that topic. This vital information can help make sense of sprawling, unordered search results if you’re doing most of your searching online.