IT and Research Skills Development Module
Session 2
Statistics and
Newspapers
Library Services
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Learning Outcomes
At the end of this session you should be able to:

Describe the difference between official and non-official statistics
and recall key resources to use to obtain each type

Use a number of online official statistical resources such as
(National Statistics Online and ESDS International)

Use The Economist Historical Archive, ABI/INFORM Global
(ProQuest) and Nexis UK effectively to find articles which have
featured in The Economist, the Financial Times, other broadsheet
newspapers as well as international, local and trade press

Recall how to access older newspaper articles using the microfilm
newspaper collection in the Main Library

Assess information to determine whether or not it may be of value
to your research
Statistics:
Official Statistics




Produced by government bodies, international
agencies and organisations
Contain both country specific and aggregated
data for whole regions
Data generated primarily as a result of
governmental activity and to aid the issuing body
in its policy making
Data contains a variety of economic, industrial
and social indicators likely to be of use to
academic research
Non-official Statistics

Produced by organisations not covered under the
‘official statistics’ heading:
– E.g. trade/professional associations, charities, banks
and building societies, companies, market research
organisations





Some repackage official data, others will provide
results of their own research
Detailed statistics on certain sectors
More likely to have commentary and analysis
Do not always provide details of compilation methods
/ statistical expertise, so quality will vary
Sometimes less accessible: members only / fee
levied
Differences (and things to watch!)

The same variable can be measured in different ways
(the results not always being the same…)
– e.g. absenteeism

Official and non-official sources often reflect different
interests
– e.g. child spending power

Different age ranges can be used
– e.g. top age range band

Remember to check who the data producers are, what
they do and the methodology used to collect / analyse
the data
– Links in with the quality of information topic we will look
at later
UK Official Statistics

National Statistics Online
– Produced by the Office for National Statistics
and other government departments
– Brings together statistical information that gets
buried on individual departmental web sites
– Can get statistics at both national and regional
level
– Mainly covers recent years; some archiving,
but as yet this is inconsistent
Other UK Official Statistics

Historical data for some statistics can be found in our
Official Statistics Collection:
– Zone 1C of the Main Library (Reference Only)


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
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Economic Trends (1953- , monthly, per q HA 1129.E3)
Financial Statistics (1962- , monthly, per q HJ 40.T2)
Monthly Digest of Statistics (1946- , per q HA 1129.M6)
Annual Abstract of Statistics (1946- , per q HA 1129.S8)
Many, but not all, historical data series for the UK
also available on ESDS International
International Official Statistics

ESDS International
– Part of the Economic and Social Data Service
(ESDS)
– Has databases from the OECD, IMF, World Bank
and UNIDO with long data runs
– Data on government finance statistics,
international financial statistics, main economic
indicators, etc. A full list at:

www.esds.ac.uk/international/access/dataset_overview.asp
– Data can go as far back as 50 years
– Free to use, but requires registration on first use
Some ESDS International Dataset
Providers
Name
Definition
Data Types
OECD
Organisation for Economic
Cooperation & Development
Main economic indicators:
economic statistics for
individual countries. Mainly
OECD members
IMF
International Monetary Fund
Economic and financial data
United Nation Industrial
Development Organisation
Employment and Trade
worldwide
UNIDO
Further descriptions at:
www.esds.ac.uk/International/access/dataset_providers.asp
European Official Statistics

Eurostat
– Compiled by the Statistical Office of the European
Communities
– Have a commitment to provide information for free
online
– Takes official statistics data from member states and
‘harmonises’ them so as data are comparable between
countries
– In addition provides a number of free publications: for
example: Eurostat yearbook and pocket books
Other European and International
Official Sources

Many international statistical publications exist in the
Official Statistics Collection in zone 1C of the Main
Library including:
– IMF International Financial Statistics (1948- , per q HG 55.I6)
– IMF Direction of Trade Statistics (1971- , per q HG 55.I6)
– OECD Main Economic Indicators (1948- , per q HC
240.A1O71)
– OECD Labour Force Statistics (1966- , per q HD 5712.A112)
– European Economy (1978- , per q HA 1107.A1E8)
Non-Official Statistics

Datastream
– Economic and financial statistics

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Non official: company accounts and share prices
Also contains some official: unemployment, consumer
spending, external trade (from IMF, OECD, national sources)
– Available on 2 PCs in LGC of the ML (booking system)
– Available on 1 PC in the 7th floor of the Muirhead Tower
Mintel: statistics on retail and service industries
Datamonitor360 / GMID: industry and product statistics
Business Insights: technology, healthcare, eCommerce, finance
– All available via eLibrary > Find Resource
More on all of these resources in later sessions
Newspapers

Library Services provides electronic full-text access
to a range of newspapers spanning back many years.
For example:
– Financial Times: 1996-present (via ProQuest)
– The Times: 1795-1985 (via Times Digital Archive)
– The Guardian & The Observer: 1791-2003 (via Historical
Newspapers)
– Nexis UK: Full-text access to many of the broadsheets (from
the mid-1980s to today) including: The Telegraph, The
Independent, The Guardian and The Times. Also full-text to
articles from local, trade & international press

All available via eLibrary > Find Resource
The Economist


Electronic access back to 1843! (new for 2009)
1843-2006
– Economist Historical Archive
– Available via eLibrary > Find Resource
– Full text, graphs, figures, tables, adverts…

2007-present
–
–
–
–
The Economist
Available via eLibrary > Find eJournal
Full-text only electronically
Figure, graphs, tables etc in the print edition available
in the Main Library zone 2A
Newspapers (cont.)

Older newspapers (mainly broadsheet) are available
on microfilm in zone 2D of the Main Library. For
example:
– The Birmingham Post (1974-2001)
– The Daily Telegraph (1945-present)
– The Financial Times (1950-present)

Items can be viewed, saved to USB drives and
printed using the microfilm readers in zone 2D
Newspapers (cont.)


A print copy of the latest edition of most UK
broadsheet newspapers as well as a few
international press are available in the Main
Library’s iLounge (zone GA) each day
More on newspapers can be found in our Tracing
Newspaper Articles guide:
– www.library.bham.ac.uk/searching/guides/skillsguides.shtml

Remember the downloading restriction of 1
article per issue!
– More info in the Copyright: A Brief Summary guide:

www.library.bham.ac.uk/searching/guides/generalguides.shtml
Journals: The Peer Review Process
• Academic journals are
traditionally peerSubmit article to journal
reviewed which is
a highly valued part of
the research process
• Ensures the
quality,
Editor considers article
originality and
validity
of an item before
it is
Article
‘peer-reviewed’ by, typically,
Article Rejected
published
inappropriate to journal / of low quality
2 (often anonymous) experts
Article accepted
Article accepted
subject to amendments
and improvements
Article rejected
But what if it’s not in a peer-reviewed
academic journal…(cont.)

There are lots of other good sources of
information out there besides peer-reviewed
journals. For example:
– Resources in eLibrary
– Certain resources on the Web. However the Web
is vast and the quality of materials is variable so it
makes sense to try and take some shortcuts:
Identify websites for professional bodies and
organisations which usually include details of
research and publications
 Look out for ‘Gateways’ which are sites that bring
together lots of resources on a topic(s)

But what if it’s not in a peer-reviewed
academic journal…
– Certain resources on the Web. (shortcuts cont.):
Include the phrase “open access” along with your
search criteria to find good quality scholarly
literature
 Some useful websites for Business can be found in
the following guide:

–

Blakeman, K. (2009) Business Information Key
Starting Points & Search Tools [online].
www.rba.co.uk/search/list.pdf [accessed 16th
November 2010].
If in doubt ask yourself the following questions…
Think Critically...

Who
– Is the author / institution responsible for the
information?

Why
– Is the item being written – does the author have a
‘hidden’ agenda?

Where
– Is the information located (.ac.uk or .com)?

When
– Was the information researched / written?
Summary
You should now be able to:

Describe the difference between official and non-official statistics
and recall key resources to use to obtain each type

Use a number of online official statistical resources such as
(National Statistics Online and ESDS International)

Use The Economist Historical Archive, ABI/INFORM Global
(ProQuest) and Nexis UK effectively to find articles which have
featured in The Economist, the Financial Times, other broadsheet
newspapers as well as international, local and trade press

Recall how to access older newspaper articles using the microfilm
newspaper collection in the Main Library

Assess information to determine whether or not it may be of value
to your research
Contacts

Contact details of the Library Subject Advisor
and how to access the Library via Question
Point are placed here.