Business Statistics on the Web: Find Them Fast – at Little or No Cost

Citation

Fourie, I. (2004), "Business Statistics on the Web: Find Them Fast – at Little or No Cost", Online Information Review, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 162-163. https://doi.org/10.1108/14684520410539567

Business Statistics on the Web is the latest publication by well‐known business statistics expert and author, Paula Berinstein. Finding statistics and company financial information used to be a tedious and time‐consuming task. With the advent of the Web many resources on statistical information became available either free of charge or at reasonable prices. If one knows about these sources, and how to formulate a statistical search strategy, useful statistical information may be only a few clicks away. Paula Berinstein tries to offer this opportunity to the novice as well as the more experienced statistical information searcher. Although she focuses on Web resources available free or at reasonable prices, she also refers the reader to the statistical databases that are commercially available through Dialog.

The purpose of the book is to help people to save time and money when searching for statistical information. It can serve as a ready reference guide on how to get started, and on references to accessible, reliable and high quality Web resources on statistical information (including fields such as health, labour, real estate and government). Charles Cotton, who wrote the foreword, argues that the value of such a book and the importance of reliable statistics on a business should be seen against the situation of not having any information (e.g. going into a new business without any knowledge of the competition). The difficulty of finding reliable information, however, should not be under‐estimated and is demonstrated through a number of case studies, as well as the tips (based on personal experience) provided by Berinstein.

Business Statistics on the Web is a compact, easy‐to‐use publication. Although the focus is on US resources, Berinstein also includes resources for other countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, and very basically on Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, individual European countries, Latin America, and the Middle East. The non‐US information is rather basic, but can still serve as good points of departure.

General search tips, such as selection of search terms, the use of truncation and proximity operators are included, as well as suggestions on how to evaluate, organise and present statistics. This information, although useful, is, however, presented at a very basic level. A number of real‐world examples demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of searching for specific numbers. There is also a link to a Web site with updated links to the most useful sites and sources.

Apart from the foreword, acknowledgements, information on the Web site and a preface, the book consists of 12 chapters, an appendix, information about the author and a fairly detailed index. The chapters cover the following aspects: getting started in searching for statistics, the basics of statistics, the generators and publishers of statistics, and general search tips, resources specific to US industry, and information on non‐US resources. Business Statistics on the Web also includes chapters on market research, economic and financial statistics, company information, demographics and population statistics, special tips and tricks, and how to gain a competitive advantage.

Business Statistics on the Web is recommended as a good value‐for‐money introduction to the novice searcher for statistical information. More experienced searchers can also benefit from the ready reference list of sources. Although a very useful point of departure when searching for statistical information Business Statistics on the Web should not be mistaken for an “ultimate” guide on useful resources or search techniques.