Online Data Sources: Search Guidelines
Requests for information will be restricted as implied or explicitly stated below. (Underlined items
below exist as links at the websites.)
www.bea.gov
Select (on left side of home page) Interactive Data.
Requested information will be restricted to:
National income and product accounts
International transactions accounts, Tables 1, 2, 11 and 12
Two ways to search for the desired table (time series) in National income and product accounts
(NIPA) tables:
1. Select Keyword Index, choose first letter of keyword, look in list for appropriate keyword,
and investigate the tables listed for that keyword.
2. Select list of All NIPA Tables, and peruse the list (organized into eight sections).
Once you have selected a table:
 select the desired span of time (e.g., from First Year of 1970 to Last Year of 2003) or (if you
want to access all the data available) select Get all years
 select the desired time period (e.g., Annual or Quarterly)
 select Refresh Table
 note: for many tables, there are Footnotes at the bottom containing background information.
note: If you want to look up the definition of a term, you can access—from the left side of the
home page—a Glossary of terms.
www.bls.gov
Four (of many) ways to search for the desired table (time series):
1. From the many underlined categories listed on the home page, select what appears to be a
suitable category. Then follow what appears to be an applicable link.
2. Select A-Z Index and then select--from the alphabetized list--what appears to be a suitable
item. Then follow what appears to be an applicable link.
3. Select Search, enter--in the search box--keyword(s) you deem appropriate, and select Search
Now! Then follow what appears to be an applicable link.
4. Select Get Detailed Statistics (which, by the way, sometimes appears as one of your choices
when you use one of the above three search methods). Then for the category listed on the
left that appears to be suitable, select the icon to CREATE CUSTOMIZED TABLES (ONE
SCREEN). Then make the appropriate selections. Then click on Get Data. If you further
wish to see a line graph of the time series, select “include graphs NEW!” and then click on
GO.
www.census.gov
For Census 2000 data:
 Select Your Gateway to Census 2000.
 Within the Data Highlights area, choose a particular state or the entire United States.
 Select Go.
 A list of Data Highlights tables will be provided.
For 2003 data:
 Select American Community Survey.
 Within the Data Tables area, choose a particular state or the entire United States.
 Select Go.
 If you chose a specific state, you will get four basic tables pertinent to the entire state and the
analogous four basic tables pertinent to other geographies (e.g., Metropolitan Statistical
Areas, counties, cities) within the state.
 If you chose the entire United States, you will get four basic tables pertinent to the entire
United States.
www.sec.gov
To access information—on a specific publicly-held company—associated with a particular form:
 Select—under Filings & Forms (EDGAR) —Search for Company Filings
 Select Companies & Other Filers.
 Enter the company name (which will be provided to you) and select Find Companies
 Enter—in the Form Type box—the form in question and select Retrieve Filings
 For a listing with an “appropriate” Filing Date, select the html version and then use your
judgment in choosing subsequent links by looking at the <DESCRIPTION> for each link..
note: A 10-K is an annual report and a 10-Q is a quarterly report in which can be found: an income
or earnings statement (itemizing revenues and expenses); a balance sheet (itemizing assets,
liabilities, and stockholders’ equity); and a cash flow statement (itemizing cash receipts and
cash payments). If the requested information is not on a 10-K or 10-Q form, you will be
told what form is relevant.
www.stlouisfed.org
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Scroll down to, on the right side of the home page, Fred II.
Enter a search term in the Search box (upper left) and select Go, or choose one of the listed
categories.
Select one of the listed data series.
Click on Max (underneath the chart).
To see the data depicted in the chart, choose View Data (above chart).
http://unstats.un.org
If you choose Millenium Indicators Database, you will get a list of 48 tables of indicators
(organized by millennium goals and targets).
If you choose Social Indicators, and then choose one of the listed categories (e.g., Health or
Education), you will get a list of one or more tables of indicators associated with that category.