Business Statistics on the Web Find them fast – at little or no cost

Citation

Bengtson, S. (2005), "Business Statistics on the Web Find them fast – at little or no cost", Library Review, Vol. 54 No. 7, pp. 436-437. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242530510611947

Business Statistics on the Web is an ideal starting point for new or infrequent users of statistical information. The main bulk of the book lists resources that Paula Berinstein has found useful in her experience as a researcher and this broad range of web sites provides a handy reference point, especially for anyone requiring statistical resources for an unfamiliar topic, geographical area or industry. Berinstein directs readers to her website, www.berinsteinresearch.com for additional sources and suggests consulting both the book and website in tandem to obtain maximum benefit.

As the title suggests, the book is focused on free or inexpensive statistical resources on the web and it succeeds in providing just that. In large part, databases from “library‐type systems” have not been discussed and the reader is directed to Bernstein’s earlier publication, Finding Statistics Online (1998) for further detail. In the General Search Tips chapter, Berinstein includes search tips for searching Factiva, FindArticles and eLibrary but on the whole the search tips are general in nature.

The criteria for web site inclusions are “usefulness, usability and price”. Berinstein includes some sites that require subscription or membership and pay as you go sites. These resources are indicated with a dollar sign but it would have been helpful to provide a range of price indicators.

Business Statistics on the Web’s opens with a “Quick Start” chapter – this six‐page chapter highlights the major resources and advice contained within the remainder of the book. The next two chapters, “Statistics Basics” and “Who Generates and Publishes Statistics” are the most informative and useful to have on hand. These chapters provide a basic overview of statistics, discussing the types of statistics, the types of organisations that produce statistics, common statistical methodologies and most importantly, the pitfalls that any statistic searcher should have uppermost in their mind.

The next six chapters provide a fairly comprehensive coverage of statistical resources: US industry sources; Non‐US industry sources; market research sources; economic and financial statistics; company information and demographic and population statistics.

In her treatment of non‐US sources, Berinstein has chosen to deal primarily with Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and United Kingdom and Northern Ireland and World resources. She is not consistent in her treatment of the non‐US sources (nor with the order in which she approaches the countries) and she cannot seem to decide whether to treat Australia and New Zealand as one area or two separate entities. Similarly, depending on the different types of statistics, the non‐US definition is extended to include other geographical regions or specific countries.

The text is peppered with snapshot examples and five extended case studies. The extended case studies help illustrate how Berinstein works her way through particular searches and how she uses the different types of sources. The remaining two chapters develop this further by including special tips and tricks, and finally estimating company numbers that cannot be found. These two chapters could have emphasised more firmly the pitfalls concerned with the estimation of market data and company information, as well as stating more explicitly how assumptions were reached.

The layout and presentation of the resources could have been much improved. The source title, URL and annotation in most cases started on the same line and for entries with long titles or even longer URLs, the URLs wrapped on to the next line in an almost continuous line of text. It would have been easier on the eyes to increase the space around the layout of the web site resources and underline the URLs for easier recognition. This makes navigation confusing, especially when it is combined with the inconsistent treatment of countries. The book closes with a glossary of statistical terms but would benefit from a bibliography.

All in all, Business Statistics on the Web accomplishes what it sets out to do – namely, providing valid statistical resources available on the web at little or no cost. Indeed, the book is a valuable reference point for the beginner or casual user of statistical information but the experienced information researcher would not benefit greatly.