How Many Facts: In Print Public Library Intended Audience: Teens and Adults for students, fellow librarians, or anyone in an academic setting,

1. THIS IS WHO WE
WERE
IN THE 1970’S
How Many Facts (In Print)
Sarah Udzielak

2. Before you use this resource
■ What questions can be answered by this resource?
– “How” questions that require statistical answers. These can be questions can be
answered using a statistical abstract or in a census data. These questions can
consist of: about how many people lived in an area, how many Hispanics lived in
Central United States, more examples are on page 7.
■ Who is the intended audience?
– Teens and Adults. This can be an audience for those in the academic setting or a
lay person who is interested. I suggest teens and adults because the information
being sought out is more difficult. Reading graphs and data is not always easy to
follow and sometimes might need a considerable amount of concentration to
understand the material.
■ How accessible are these reference resources?
– These reference sources also come online, which are easier to access and use.
Print sources are accessible through your library and for students at their College
or University. They can also be accessed via Proquest or other databases
available at your library or school. Many resources have stopped printing these
resources and encouraging people to use their online sites.
– For those who have trouble seeing small print might also want to bring a
magnifying glass since a lot of the time the data is written small. Librarians would
be able to help you find this resource.

3. Before you use this resource
continued..
■ What would you need to know to use this resource?
– You would need to know that you are looking for the Census Data and
how to use a Table of Contents and index.
– You would also have to know how to read graphs and data charts.
■ Why would you want to use this resource?
– You would want to use this resource if you have any questions that
involve “how many.” This can be used if someone is interested in a
certain time period and comparing and contrasting the difference of
salaries from the 1900’s to the current date. Someone might also need or
want to use this resource for any kind of academic project.
– This is a current source about the 1970’s and 1980’s and was published
last year, 2015.
– This is a trusted source the Publishers do note that every effort was
made so that this information is reliable. However, they cannot guarantee
reliability. Although, they promise if errors are found, in future editions
they will be corrected.

4. How to use this source?
■ Table of Contents and Index
– It would be wise for you to search the Table of Contents to find what
page starts the data. If you cannot find it in the Table of Contents look
in the back of the back at the Index. That way you are not flipping
through the entire resource, which can be very large. Once you find
the Census Data page there is another index page that shows all of
the different sections the census data offers and what page it is on.
■ Searching
– Once you find the page of the subject you are searching for there
may be a map, graph, table, etc. Sometimes the print is very small
and a magnifying glass might be handy!
– On the page you found the title of the information you are seeking will
be in bold below it will have the data you are looking for. Example on
next page.

5. How many people
graduated from College in
Illinois in 1980?
This is what the entire page looks like, as you can see
the print is very small.
• The top you will notice it is in bold that says College
Graduates.
• The left side of the page the first column is the
individual States in the United States
• Then when you read across from the State you are
looking for the first column is the graduation rate in
1970, the second column is the graduation rate in
1980, then the third column is the graduation rate in
2010.
• The right side of the page is the Rank of the states
starting with the highest graduation rate to the lowest.
• One may notice that some states are ranked at the
same number. That is because they had the exact
same graduation rate.

6. How many people graduated
from College in Illinois in 1980?
• Here the print is a little larger for you to see.
You can notice the College Graduates is in
bold, which would be in the top center of
the page.
• Then you can find Illinois in alphabetical
order and read across to the second
column, 1980, and see Illinois had an
average of 16.2% of successful College
Graduates
• Then you can see that Illinois in 1980 was
ranked 25th in successful College

7. Example of other questions that can be
answered using a Statistical Abstract or Census
Data
■ What were the ages and sex between 1980-1970?
■ What is the percentage distribution by Race and Origin during 1980?
■ How many people were married/single/divorce/widowed during this time period?
■ How many boys were 15 and Hispanic between 1980 and 1970?
■ How many people were born and eventually moved to a different state or country between
1900 and 1980?
■ How many parents are immigrants?
■ How many white females worked between 1940 and 1980?
■ What was the total median income for families in the United States in 1970?

8. Other resources similar to, This is Who
We Were: In the 1970s, online and in
print
■ http://www.census.gov/library/publications/time-series/statistical_abstracts.html
■ https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/statistical-abstract-of-the-united-states
■ ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the United States 2015 (ProQuest Statistical
Abstract Series) 1st Edition

9. Any other questions?
If you have any other questions about Census Data or Statistical Data and how to
find resources that indicate “how many” and statistical answers come find me at the
Reference Desk or call the Library at 708-555-5555 and ask for Sarah.

10. Bibliography
This information can be accessed through your Library, buy it on Amazon or a company that
sells Academic Reference books, or found online.
Cassell, K.A. & Hiremath, U. (2013). Reference and information
services: An introduction (3rd ed.). Chicago: Neal-Schuman.
Mackenzie, L. & Mars, Laura (2015). This is who we were: In the 1970s. Amenia,
NY: Grey House Publishing Inc.