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County and City Data Book on CD-ROM
Quick Guide

Contents

Overview

County and City Data Book on CD-ROM is prepared by the Bureau of the Census. Its files contain a collection of data from the Bureau of the Census and other Federal agencies, such as the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Social Security Administration, as well as several private organizations, such as the American Medical Association and the Elections Research Center. The CD-ROM contains 20 data files each for states and counties, 16 for cities of 25,000 or more, and 7 for places of 2,500 or more. The CD-ROM disk includes all data published for States, counties, cities, and places in the County and City Data Book 19 94, as well as a number of items which were not in the book but are included for user convenience.

County and City Data Book on CD-ROM can be accessed by selecting the Berkeley Information Network from the Library Information System PC opening menu. Fro m the initial screen of the County and City Data Book on CD-ROM database,

Note: The County and City Data Book on CD-ROM bottom bar on each screen lists the available command options with highlighted letters to be pressed.

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Subjects

 State and county files cover the following subjects:
  • age
  • agriculture
  • banking
  • building permits
  • crime
  • earnings
  • education
  • elections
  • government
  • health
  • households
  • housing
  • income
  • labor
  • force and employment
  • manufactures
  • population
  • poverty
  • retail trade
  • services industries
  • social programs
  • veterans
  • vital statistics
  • wholesale trade

City data files include most of the subjects listed for State and county files with the exception of agriculture and elections data plus climate data.

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Sources

County and City Data Book on CD-ROM contains a collection of data from sources such as the 1990 Census of Population and Housing (STF 3C on CD-ROM), 1982 and 1987 Census of Manufactures, 1982 and 1987 Census of Agriculture (Geographic Area Series ), Regional Economic Information System 1969-1990 on CD-ROM, U.S. National Center for Health Statistics Vital Statistics of the United States, Physician Characteristics and Distribution in the U.S (AMA), etc.

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Accessing County and City Data Book on CD-ROM

To access County and City Data Book on CD-ROM in a U.C. Berkeley Library on a Library Information System PC, click on:

E. Berkeley Information Network (CD-ROM Databases by Subject)

in the Library Information System PC opening screen. From the next window, select:

E. Government Information Databases.

In the next window, select the icon named

County and City Data Book on CD-ROM.

In the initial screen of the County and City Data Book on CD-ROM database, two options are available:

Note: the bottom bar in each screen lists the available command options with highlighted letters to be pressed.

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Selected Rankings of U.S. Counties and Cities

County and City Data Book on CD-ROM contains a number of tables providing rankings of counties and cities for a wide variety of topics. To access the Selected Rankings tables, press F1 from any screen within County and City Data Book on CD-ROM. (Note: The bottom bar on each screen lists the available command options with highlighted letters to be pressed.) In the d isplayed list, highlight Selected Rankings and press [ENTER]. The following list is displayed:

Highlight the desired set of rankings and press [ENTER] to see a list of topics for which rankings are available. Highlight the topic of interest and press [ENTER] to see the table.

To print out or save a table with rankings, hold down the [Alt] key and press P at the same time. A window with two options is displayed:

To print the table on an attached printer, highlight the Print to printer option and press [ENTER].

Note: Only very few Library Information System PC's are connected to a printer. Furthermore, printing documents is not free of charge. We strongly recommend that data tables are downloaded to a floppy disk (either 3.5" or 5.25"). D isks have to be formatted for IBM PC or compatibles.

To save a ranking table to a floppy disk, highlight the Print to file option and press [ENTER]. In the displayed window, specify the appropriate drive letter (a: for 3.5" disks or b: for 5.25" disks) and the file name (no longer than 8 characters; e.g. a:\ranking). Press [Enter] to save the table (as an ASCII text file) to your disk.

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Selecting the Geographic Areas (States, State Groups, Counties, Cities, Places)

After pressing any key in the opening screen, a list of geographic levels is displayed in the upper lefthand corner of the screen. Using the cursor keys, the user can highlight any of the four geographic levels available:

To select the highlighted level, press [Enter].

If U.S. States/State Groups is selected, a list with options for the whole U.S., state groups (census regions and divisions), or single states is displayed in the upper righthand corner.

If Counties, Cities, or Places is selected, a list of state postal abbreviations is diplayed in the upper lefthand corner.

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Displaying the Data

When viewing the data, several options (displayed in the bottom bar) are available by pressing one of the following keys:

Key Explanation
B Allows the user to browse the highlighted data item for other areas in the upper righthand window.
P Allows the user to print the selected table as displayed on the screen or a single item from that table for several areas to a printer or to a print file
C Allows the user to copy the selected table or selected records from that table to a file. For more information, see Copy Function below.
F Displays footnote information for the geographic area and data item selected.
L Displays the meaning of symbols used in the tables.
[F1] Allows the user to view and print the Technical Documentation and Selected Rankings.
[Esc] Takes the user back to the previous screen.
[End] Exits the County and City Data Book on CD-ROM 1994 "GO" software. Answer yes to prompt in the bottom bar.

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Copy Function

Note: Only very few Library Information System PC's are connected to a printer. We strongly recommend that data tables are downloaded to a floppy disk (either 3.5" or 5.25"). Disks have to be formatted for IBM PC or compatibles.

Data tables from County and City Data Book on CD-ROM can be downloaded in various file formats that fit different applications such as database management or spreadsheet programs.

To start the copy process, insert your floppy disk (either 3.5" or 5.25") in the appropriate disk drive and press C (see County and City Data Book on CD-ROM 1994 bottom bar for other options). A window appears in the center of the screen.

First, a prompt is displayed to select a geographic entity or entities from the list in the window in the upper righthand corner of the screen by pressing [ENTER]. An asterisk will appear behind the selected entity or entities. To proceed, press C again. A list of file type options is displayed:

Highlight the desired file type and press [ENTER] to select. In the window appearing on the bottom of the screen, specify the floppy disk drive and file name (no longer than eight characters; e.g. a:\salaries) you wish to use for saving yo ur data. Available drives are:

Press [ENTER] to save the selected data to your floppy disk.

At this point, the user is prompted to create technical documentation for the generated file, which does not contain all the field names. The created technical documentation lists field names as well as their descriptions, field length, and character typ e. To save the technical documentation to your disk, press [ENTER] to accept, N to decline.

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