After more than 25 years of operation, STAT-USA is closing its doors. This was not an easy decision, but the world of access to government information has evolved to the point that STAT-USA’s business model, as a fee for service office, is no longer viable.
In its early years, STAT-USA was on the progressive edge of government data delivery. Its mandate from Congress, to serve as a central collection and delivery mechanism for economic and trade information from all the federal agencies, was a much-needed innovation. Since then, the Internet and information technology in general have grown and changed at dazzling speed. Information sharing, data tools, and social media have become intrinsic parts of American life.
In this new atmosphere, STAT-USA/Internet’s historic role as a straightforward storehouse of static government information releases has become outdated. As we move on, we applaud and acknowledge these new innovations, new tools for new needs, and a new world of government data-sharing.
Fast Facts
USA Trade Online will continue, provided by the Foreign Trade Division of the Census Bureau—a key source of STAT-USA data. All USA Trade Online subscription accounts will be handled directly by that agency, with no interruption to the customer.
STAT-USA/Internet (which includes all State of the Nation and GLOBUS & NTDB databases) and our syndication services will cease September 30, 2010.
50,000
Current and historical U.S. statistical releases, state and regional analysis reports, forecasts, and financial data!
GLOBUS & NTDB
200,000
current and historical trade-related releases, international market research, country analysis, and trade and procurement leads!
STAT-USA is produced by the Economics & Statistics Administration at the U.S. Department of Congress
Two Resources Worth Knowing About
1. globalEDGE
From Michigan St. University. Excellent, well maintained collection of web-based international business resources and much more. Free to access and use.
NOTE: Free Access for Some to the Following Database (Part of globalEDGE)
We hope that the globalEDGE Database of International Business Statistics (DIBS) will alleviate some of the data collection complexities associated with international business research. Importantly, the globalEDGE DIBS is FREE. Interested academics (i.e., students, faculty, and researchers affiliated with a higher education institution, government agency, or think tank) may download data free of charge. The only requirements are that you register on globalEDGE (which is also FREE) using an institutional (.edu or .gov) email address and provide a statement of your intended use. Key features of DIBS:
+ Access is available for academic, non-commercial use
+ Frequent updates using robust data
+ Over 2500 variables
+ Over 200 countries
+ Data available from mid-1990s to present
This is an easy way to search and distribute CS Market Research. This library contains more than 100,000 international trade related documents, reports, web sites, events, and trade directory listings
You'll also see a map and a link to a database with U.S. domestic content.
A family of resources to help information workers be more effective, raise the value of information in their organisations and contribute to success. Read more »
Recently I have found myself cooing over visualisation maps (and heat maps) of health and well being resources. The content rich data is overlayed with mapping technologies, and some interesting themes and patterns are emerging.
A lot of the talk around social media in the last year has been around information overload. Social media has provided us with new and exciting ways to create content. But it has also meant learning new ways to manage and engage with social media tools. Are we teetering on the edge of an information overload precipice?
Information overload is a figment of your imagination. Or a failure of your filter. Or a symptom of your technological submissiveness. Depends on who you ask.
What if you had to sort through 3.5 million articles and social media posts a day and try to pull out the most relevant items for your organisation? What if you then had to cobble it all together into something readable for your top groups and executives in your organisation?
Alacra Compliance saves time by aggregating information from both free and fee-based sources and enabling users to conduct an accurate federated search across these sources (coined “simultaneous search” by Alacra).
FreePint Family
Quilting big data threads
The fallacy of information overload
Information overload: fact, fantasy or filter failure? 
