Subject Specialist:
Statistics and Data
U.S. Government Documents
814-865-0665
e-mail: sjw31@psu.edu
Subject Specialist:
Statistics and Data
U.S. Government Documents
814-865-0665
e-mail: sjw31@psu.edu
When people mention "the census" they could be referring to a number of things:
any number of surveys analyzing social, economic, and geographic data
More often than not, though, people talking about the census are referring to the decennial Census of Population and Housing which collects all sorts of information about people and households in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Island Areas [American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands].
Officially, the Census of Population and Housing is taken for the purpose of legislative apportionment and redistricting. Changes can affect the level of federal assistance available to a census geographic area and its population as well as the number of representatives an area may send to Washington.
Personal information is not released until 72 years after the decennial census is taken. However, because this information does become available, the decennial census is a primary source for genealogists and family historians. Taking you back to the 1940s is the Web site for the Census Bureau's latest release of personal information from the census.
The Libraries' Research Guide: Genealogy and Family History, provides links to a wealth of resources for people doing genealogy research.
The Genealogists/Family Historians Web site, maintained by The National Archives, is another source of information about family research.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, famous for their genealogy archives, maintains the FamilySearch Web site which provides access to their data.
The News and Microforms Library's U.S. Census Collections and Resources page details the Libraries' holdings of census records "with names".
As a U.S. Federal Depository library, the Penn State Libraries receive print volumes of the decennial Population & Housing census as they are printed. At University Park, these volumes are shelved in the Census Area, Social Sciences Library, 2nd Floor Paterno Library. NOTE: these volumes do not help the genealogist or family historian because they contain the "numbers only". Please see the Libraries' Research Guide: Genealogy and Family History for help with that type of research.
The U.S. Census Bureau website provides links to all of the censuses and surveys produced by the Bureau. These tend to be mostly current publications — access to historical data is limited.
Census Bureau publications in print are found in the U.S. Government Documents section of the 2nd Floor Paterno Library Stacks. These publications will begin with the SuDocs [government documents] call number C 3:.
The University of Virginia, Geospatial and Statistical Data Center provides access to census data from 1790 to 1960 via its Historical Census Browser.
Decennial Censuses in PDF file format are available at the U.S. Census Bureau website.
View the 2010 census participation rate map.
Data Access Tools
links to online data resources from the U.S. Census Bureau
"Your source for population, housing, economic, and geographic data"
