From Booklist
Data: Where It Is and How to Get It is touted as "both a primer on how to intelligently use and evaluate government data sources and a set of data directories to help users of business, environmental and energy data cut through the federal bureaucracy to find hard-to-access data." Similar in concept to Lesko's Information USA but with a narrower focus, the book is divided into two parts, "The Dataprimer" and "The Dataphoner."
Part 1 describes the government data-collecting agencies that are coordinated by the Statistical Policy Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget, the National Trade Data Bank, and some commercial data services. "The Best Business-Related Data Publications" introduces readers to such titles as the Monthly Labor Review, Federal Reserve Bulletin, and Digest of Education Statistics. "Jargon" is a 15-page glossary of terms and concepts that "separate the layman from the professional" for which the authors have drawn heavily on the Dictionary of Economic and Statistical Terms published by the Department of Commerce. The selected bibliography includes nothing newer than 1990; most of the items are from the 1970s and 1980s. While some may be classics (How to Lie with Statistics, 1982), others seem inappropriate (Where to Find Business Information; A World Guide, 1982).
Part 2, "The Dataphoner," includes directories of more than 2,500 contacts (government and private) for business, environmental, and energy data indexed by field, specific subject, and name. Considering the likely personnel changes, the personal-name index is probably not so current or useful, but the subject-specific references to offices within agencies are helpful.
The compilers are both experienced data gatherers and users. Coleman managed the regional economic-measurement programs of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (U.S. Department of Commerce) and is currently president of a private economic-data consulting firm. Morse specializes in international trade, especially Asian American issues.
