RWS 3355: Workplace Writing: Create a Map

What kind of report am I running? What does the data mean?

In the DemographicsNow database, click on Help & Info button (top right of screen)

Next, select Data Methodology (this will give you a popup window)

Select Demographics Report Guide (This will give you a glossary of report types, with descriptions of what type of data was collected. It will tell you what the numbers mean: e.g., people, households, places, etc.)

Creating a Map Report

1. Go to DemographicsNow: Library Edition (Gale)

2. Click on the maps tab.

3. In the Thematic Controls box, click on the variable dropdown list and select More variables...

4. Select a variable: For example, these selections...

-Basic variables (Folder)

• Age
• Educational Attainment
• Household size
• Income
• Marital Status
• Poverty
• Race and Ethnicity
• School Enrollment (Population 3+)

- Business Summary (Folder)

• Employees (Subfolder)
• Establishments (Subfolder)/major SIC Divisions (sub subfolder)/Services (sub sub subfolder)/ Health Services, Legal Services, Social Services

- Transportation, Communications, Electric, gas, & Sanitary Services (Folder)

- Housing Units (Folder)/ Units in Structure (Subfolder)/ Housing Units, Mobile Home

Vehicles Available (Subfolder)

Click OK.

5. In the Enter Geography (city, state, zip, address, etc.) box, enter a geographic region.  

Click enter; it will give you a list of places to select from.

Select your place by clicking on it.

6. In the Mapping Tools box, activate the Thematic Layer checkbox.

When you scroll down a bit in this box, it will give you color coded ranges.

* To interpret the data, see the Demographics Report Guide (the instructions on how to get this are above)

• You can change the geography data by going to the Thematic Controls box, and selecting Geography (based on zoom): this dropdown list includes options for counties, zip codes, and more.

• You can also change the colors by choosing from the Colors dropdown list.