the Newsletter 

For the U.S. Business, Economic and Trade Community 

Fall 2003 

STAT-USA®/InternetTM 

Our flagship service, STAT-USA/Internet contains all 

of the information available on the National Trade Data 

Bank (NTDB)® as well as U.S. economic releases. 

USA Trade® Online 

Delivers the most current U.S. merchandise trade data 

available within minutes of its release. 

EuroTrade OnlineTM 

A wonderful complement to USA Trade Online, this 

service offers export and import trade data from 

Eurostat, the official European statistical agency. 

Learn more about our products and services online! 

Keeping the Community Informed 

In 1990, STAT-USA, then known as the Office of 

Business Analysis (OBA), partnered with the 

Government Printing Office (GPO) to provide Federal 

Depository Libraries (FDL) across the country with the 

National Trade Data Bank CD-ROM. Over the years, this 

joint venture has proven to be a very successful way to 

encourage use of STAT-USA products and services by 

the American public. 

What Is A Federal Depository Library? 

The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) was 

established by Congress to ensure that the American 

public had access to Governmental information and 

resources. Through the FDLP, GPO disseminates the 

largest volume of government publications and 

information in the world. As part of its mission, the 

FDLP disseminates information products from the 

three branches of the Government to selected 

libraries across the United States and its territories. 

Libraries in the FDLP maintain these products and 

ensure the public has free access to the materials. 

There are over 1,200 libraries within the FDLP that 

provide electronic and supplemental government 

information. 

Newsletter Editor, Terri Long, awaits a question at the 

FDL Conference and Council Meeting , October 22,2003. 

She was a keynote speaker. 

Approximately 55% of the total are academic libraries and 

20% are public. With one in each congressional district, 

they provide an easy way for the American public to gain 

access to various government products and vital data in 

their local community. 

Lending A Hand 

In 1990, then Director of Marketing, Bob Wendling, along 

with the STAT-USA Director, the late Ken Rogers, 

approached GPO about providing the FDLP with STAT-USA 

products to assist in informing the American public about 

international trade and the domestic economy. It began 

with a survey sent to almost 100 participating libraries 

entitled, "Assessing the Economic Bulletin Board." Then in 

October 1990, FDLP libraries received their very first copy 

of the National Trade Data Bank (NTDB) CD-ROM, which 

was later issued on a monthly basis. 

Over the years, STAT-USA has supplied the FDLP with 

several products and services. From the National 

Economic, Social & Environmental (NESE) CD-ROM to STATUSA/Internet and USA Trade Online, STAT-USA has 

continued to keep the FDLP up to date with the latest 

business, trade and economic information and technology. 

This partnership has been an important means of outreach 

STAT-USA and Federal Depository Libraries 

check out www.stat-usa.org
The International Trade Library 

Revitalized ! 

Over the last few months, significant changes have been 

made to one of STAT-USA/Internet's largest databases, 

the International Trade Library (ITL). With meticulous 

care and attention to detail, we've been going through 

each individual information program area and 

evaluating its status and worth to STAT-USA/Internet 

customers. 

We have discovered new programs through this process 

which we are adding to the database. Even some of the 

existing programs, such as the CIA World Factbook, have 

been expanded with additional supplemental reports. 

(See Page 3 for more details). 

This will be an ongoing project to ensure that all 

programs have the most current updates and 

information available. During this process, some 

programs have been removed, as it has been discovered 

that either the information is no longer relevant or that 

the program is no longer updated. 

These decisions are not reached easily, and we apologize 

for any inconvenience the removal of these programs 

may cause. If you have any questions regarding a 

program that is no longer available, please send an email 

to statusa@esa.doc.gov with the subject "ITL Program 

Request". A STAT-USA representative will be able to 

provide an explanation of why the program was 

removed, as well as provide a lead on who you might 

contact for specific questions about that program. 

Additional STAT-USA Projects 

STAT-USA is in the latter stages of completing the 

STAT-USA Training Manual. More than "just a 

computer manual", this will also be a great resource 

in assisting professors who have introduced STATUSA/Internet and USA Trade Online into their 

curriculums, as well as for individual users looking to 

maximize the usefulness of STAT-USA products. 

STAT-USA is also in the beginning stages of an entire 

site redesign for STAT-USA/Internet. We will be 

soliciting comments from customers as that project 

gets underway. 

USA Trade Online Upgraded 

You Spoke, We Listened! 

In 2003, STAT-USA conducted focus groups and informal 

poll to determine how your thoughts on how STAT-USA 

products could be improved. Your comments played a 

major role in the plans for the upcoming changes to USA 

Trade Online. 

The export/import merchandise trade web site provided 

by STAT-USA and the U.S. Bureau of the Census, is being 

overhauled to provide customers with more data and 

increased functionality. Since this is an extensive process, 

it is being broken down into two phases. 

Phase One 

This first phase, expected to be completed this spring, 

will bring historical monthly data for 36 months. This 

means historical trade data will now be available by 

month as well as by year for up to three years. No longer 

will customers have to archive historical monthly data on 

their own! 

This added feature will also coincide with the 

implementation of an easier to use, more flexible 

commodity selection screen. 

Phase Two 

In the second phase more widespread changes will be 

made. The following data items are just a sample of the 

new statistical detail customers can expect to see: 

· Port Data


· Method of Transportation (air/freight)


· Tariffs


· Unit Prices


Customers can also expect to see expanded import and 

export data series, which will include: 

· Imports for Consumption 

· Domestic Exports 

· Foreign Exports 

Due to the extensive nature of these new additions, the 

completion date for Phase Two is not until December 

2004. 

Customers worried about adjusting to such a significant 

change should remain calm. For a period of time, STATUSA will carry the current version of USA Trade Online in 

addition to the new and improved one, providing 

customers time to get accustomed to the new web site. 
STAT-USA & FDLs... 

(Continued from page 1) 

STAT-USA Director, Forrest Williams, takes a question 

from the crowd at the FDL Conference and Council. 

for STAT-USA. The FDL community has done 

an outstanding job of informing the 

American about STAT-USA and our unique 

information products. 

Looking Forward 

STAT-USA is constantly involved in working 

with depository librarians to make sure that 

our products are effective tools in providing 

Government information. In October 2003, 

STAT-USA representatives attended the 

Federal Depository Library Conference 

and Council Meeting in Northern Virginia. 

During the session, Terri Long, editor of the 

STAT-USA Newsletter and Senior Marketing 

Associate, previewed some new changes that 

are on the horizon for USA Trade Online and 

STAT-USA/Internet, as well as some other new initiatives. In the meantime, STAT-USA continues to provide 

technical support on our products through phone support and training materials to FDLs. We also offer an 

occasional on-site training session. 

We have discovered that Federal Depository Librarians are our most effective means for getting business, trade 

and economic information into the hands of the American public. We are committed to supporting Federal 

Depository Librarians through education and training. The better they are able to use and understand STATUSA products and services, the better able they are in assisting the American public. 

For more information about the Federal Depository Library Program or to find if your library qualifies as an FDL, 

please contact the Lisa Russell of the Government Printing Office at 202-512-2010 ext 33281. 

New and Expanded Reports! 

The CIA World Factbook Expanded! 

STAT-USA now offers the "comparative tables" of this popular publication. They are ranked order tables


listing countries of the world by a variety of economic indexes, such as GDP, oil exports and military


expenditures. These reports can be located on the GLOBUS page of STAT-USA/Internet under the new


header: SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS.


NEW! World Bank Publications!

The International Trade Library now features the economic report, Global Development Finance and


the trade related report, Legal Aspects of International Trade. These reports are a result of the


continuing effort of STAT-USA to include the latest in economic and trade data from a variety of sources.


Digital Economy 2003 has been updated and is now available in the SELECTED PUBLICATIONS area,.