Data AccessibilityMedia Type: FTP vs AFF vs CD-ROM and DVD

FTP AFF CD-ROM/DVD

Difficulty High Low Low

Cost No No Yes

User Level High All All

Speed Variable Variable High

Connect Issues Possible Possible Unlikely

Download limits None 5 MB CD size

Graphical User Interface None Yes Yes

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How can you obtain the Summary File 1 information?

The information is available for downloading from the Census Bureau’s Internet site; you can view the information directly online through the American Factfinder accessible from the Census Bureau’s internet site. You can also get the same information on CD-ROM and DVD.

Here we see a matrix that gives the pros and cons of each method of accessing Census 2000 data.

Briefly, the File Transfer Protocol method is designed solely for experienced data users who are knowledgeable about downloading segmented files.

The American FactFinder is an easy-to-use, free data tool that all users will find helpful. AFF is subject to some download limitations though.

Purchasing CD-ROMs will keep users from having to be on-line to download large amounts of data. The CD-ROM has a Graphical User Interface (GUI - basically the windows usability format) with preformatted tables, in addition to the data files available in ASCII format.