Social Sciences Library

This Quick Guide describes how to gather information for a small geographic area such as a county or municipality. While the emphasis is on Pennsylvania, and in particular Centre County, many of the resources are also applicable to researching other counties or municipalities around the the country.

Each section has a suggested research strategy for approaching the research in that topic. These strategies are general and can be modified to suit your exact data needs.

Each section, also, has some suggested library sources as well as links to resources on the Web. You may discover others on your own that are equally useful.

Before you begin your data gathering take a quick look at our page "Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics" for hints on evaluating your data sources.

Citing Your Sources will help you finish your work.

If you need additional assistance please stop at the Social Sciences Library Reference Desk, 2nd Floor Paterno Library.

• Background information

• General Data Sources

• Gathering Detailed Demographics

• Crime and Justice

• The Economy

• Education

• The Environment

• Government and Politics

• Health and Social Services

• Filling in the gaps