LibGuides: IS 201: Cities as Incubators of Diversity (Lorenz): Community Information

Demographic and Geographic Information

This box contains links to national, state, and local information. For this guide, I centered my examples around Waverly, Iowa. Depending on the area about which you are asking questions, you should find a comparable source for that county, state, country, institution, etc.

Helpful Hint for Website Searching

Often when we search online, we are only interested in a specific type of information to be returned to us. For example, if I'm curious about the racial diversity in Iowa. I really want reports from the Iowa state government. By adding site:.iowa.gov to my Google search, I can return results from only the www.iowa.gov website. This also works if you don't want to search one particular website, but instead one domain like site:.gov or site:.edu.

Country-Specific Resources

Data.Census.Gov
If you are focusing more nationally, you might be interested in United States Census Data. You can get national data here, but also state-specific data.

State-Specific Resources

City of Waverly, Iowa
Are you looking into a community in a specific city? See if they have a website!
Bremer County
What about a bit closer to home, try a county website.
Iowa Legislature
Are you looking into the laws in a particular state? Is there a website that represents their legislature?
Iowa State Data Center
Does your state have a data center? While Iowa's is called a "data center," Colorado's is called the "demography office." Finding the correct term will be important here.

Culture-Specific Resources

State Library of Iowa
State libraries can be a place to locate both current and historical information on your state.
Iowa State Archives
Some states have state archive collections that can give you insight into a variety of different perspectives.
State Historical Society of Iowa
A state museum offers curated collections that tell stories about your state.
Waverly Public Library
City libraries often collect physical and digital materials that tell the story of the city in which they reside. Their historical newspapers can be a gold mine of information!

Academic-Specific Resources

Iowa Department of Education
Schools can tell us a lot about a community, what does your state prioritize in their public education programs?
Waverly-Shell Rock Community Schools
Public schools can tell a lot about a city.
Wartburg College Fast Facts
Does your area have institutions of higher education? How are they integrated into the community?

Conducting Primary Research

Your information need will always determine where you look for sources. Typically a variety of supporting materials makes for stronger evidence to support your claims. For this assignment, you are required to investigate your question by using a variety of sources, including personal interviews. Doing your own primary research, and supporting your claims with that evidence will strengthen your argument and give you better insight into the community.