Target Audience: Academics, legal historians, government documents librarians Learning Outcomes: 1. Participants will be able to identify the rationale for the collection of certain data in the federal census. 2. Participants will be able to locate and reference published census data that is useful for applied and historical research.
With nearly 310 million people in the United States, counting every person is one of the largest, most expensive undertakings of the federal government. What is the history behind this $12 billion dollar project? What is the importance of the detailed information collected, and how is it utilized? A representative of the U.S. Census Bureau will talk about the policy and process behind this gargantuan task and the need to collect certain data in order to map out the changing identity and character of the nation's inhabitants. To present a practical application of this data, an experienced government documents researcher will describe the process resulting from his research on ethnic classification in Colorado, 1860-2005.