Statistics

Having access to up to date statistics can be vital. The Library’s collection of ABS statistics is horribly outdated and I am about to delete it. However, do not despair! The ABS website gives you access to more statistics than you can imagine. Get Census data, the latest CPI figures, Labour Force estimates, Current Accounts, Retail Trade figures – just to name a few. Download reports on hundreds of themes such as Social Capital, Building and Construction, the Environment, Indigenous Issues and Foreign Trade.

Another excellent website is the Office of Economic and Statistical Research . Here you can create regional profiles and thematic maps, download a range of publications and access statistical databases.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has a wealth of statistics on road fatalities and a wide range of reports that you can access free of charge.

Want Crime and Criminal Justice statistics? Go to Australian Institute of Criminology.

There are many websites that provide statistics and as I come across them I shall include them in this blog.

Government websites – Environment and Water

Government websites are veritable treasure troves of information – it’s just a matter of finding it. The Australian Government’s Dept. of Environment and Water Resources is the place to go for national policy, programs and legislation covering Australia’s natural environment and cultural heritage.

Access a huge range of publications, reports and studies. Sign up for newsletters and media releases. Locate relevant legislation, grants and funding opportunities. Find related websites and search a number of databases.

The Queensland Government’s version is Dept. of Natural Resources and Water. Between the two, you should have the very latest government information and news about the environment and water at your fingertips.

Delicious digging

Social bookmarking – what is it and why use it? It’s a way for internet users to store, organise, share and search bookmarks of web pages. The advantage of using a social bookmarking site is that your bookmarks, or favourites, are accessible from any computer with access to the internet. You can see what sites your friends and colleagues are bookmarking and share your links with them.

Social bookmarking is a great tool for groups. Simply create a group account and store all the links that are useful to the group’s work in one place, accessible by the whole group.

I’ve created an account for the LGAQ at http://del.icio.us/LGAQLibrary where I’ve listed all sorts of websites, reports and newsletters that you might find interesting or useful.

Some of the most popular social bookmarking sites are:

Del.icio.us   http://del.icio.us/

Digg            http://digg.com

Furl           http://www.furl.net/

Go check them out. I’m sure you’ll love the idea and that you’ll be digging and furling deliciously!

Small beginnings

Welcome to the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) Library blog.  It has been created to keep LGAQ staff in touch with the huge range of information available on the web, as well as giving tips and tuturials on such things as RSS feeds, social bookmarking, search techniques and more.