Did you know...?

Did you Know… Ref Rap
Did you know…
46% of Australians aged over 18 years visited a library in 2006.
Libraries were the second most attended cultural venue or event in 2006. The most popular cultural and leisure activities enjoyed by people aged 18 years and over in 2006 were: going to the movies (69% of persons when reporting all activities enjoyed over a 12 month period); visiting libraries (46% of persons); visiting zoological parks and aquariums (41%); and visiting botanic gardens (40%).
Almost two-thirds (65%) of Australians aged 15 and over who had visited a library during the 12-month period 2005-06 had visited more than six times during that period, including 25% who had visited more than 20 times.
Females were more likely than males to visit a library - their attendance rate was 41%, compared with 27% for males.
55% (1,467,500) of children visited a public library outside of school hours in 2005-06.74% (1,984,000) of children read for pleasure in April 2006. While 80% of girls read for pleasure during the same period, only 69% of boys did so.
These are just an example of the interesting and informative facts you can find on the ABS website.

A short while ago I attended a training called “ABS website made simple”, and thought I’d share some of the ways you can navigate and search this treasure trove of information.
Search Box-You can use the search box to simply key in a few keywords describing the information you are looking for.

Navigation menus- There are two navigation menus from which to access information. These are the “Left hand side navigation menu” which has shortcuts to the major statistical indicators, key services and products, and the “Global navigation menu” which runs across the top of the ABS Home webpage. The global navigation menu includes a number of headings that link to the different areas of the site you may wish to investigate. These include:

First visit link – This tab is set up as an index, providing links to information and services available from the site including an overview of the site, tailored information portals to meet specific information needs, training and tutorials.

Statistics link-If you already have the appropriate information, you are able to use the statistics link to search by catalogue date, release date or the title of the document.

Census link- There are (now less than) 280 days until the 2011 census! If you need census information before then, you can access this via the census link. There are six online tools you can use to access this data in a format most useful to you. Two popular online tools are Quickstats- A summary of key Census data for a chosen area benchmarked against Australia, and Community Profiles- a collection of various tables showing Census data in detail, for a chosen location.

Topics at a glance-A relatively easy way to find an overview on a particular topic is to click on the ‘topics at a glance” tab to allow you to browse through a wide range of topic areas grouped under five main headings.

Methods and standards link- This link is self explanatory, and includes outlines of the methods used to collect and analyse statistics as well as research reports.

News and media link- This link features the ABS in the media, publications, release dates of key statistical information, and resources for reporting statistical information.

Educational link- this link has resources for teachers and students to bring data to life in the classroom. There is also fun stuff for students. Simply click on games and puzzles link to play and learn about statistics.

Help link-A useful link if you get lost or need further instruction on navigating the site.

Finally- Did you know the ABS also have a free help line 1300 135 070, available during business hours, (alternatively you can send an email) to enable you unearth those elusive statistics.

Happy data hunting
Monique