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The 1990 Census was the 20th count of the U.S. population and housing. This section covers important developments pertaining to the 1990 Census data resources and access to and use of these data. This document is written by Warren Glimpse, former senior Census Bureau statistician responsible for innovative data access and use operations. He is also the former associate director of the U.S. Office of Federal Statistical Policy and Standards for data access and use. The 1990 Census largely followed the 1980 Census with planned summary data files. There was no American Community Survey, the rolling or annual "census", until after Census 2000. Microcomputers were in an early stage of development. CD-ROM were a primary medium to release machine-readable. Other electronic data evolved later in 1990s. School District Data Book Special Tabulation The 1990 Census featured the "School District Data Book" (SDDB) as a major special tabulation. The SDDB was a groundbreaking data repository and software package developed in the early 1990s, serving as the primary product of the 1990 Census Mapping Project. Sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau, it provided an unprecedented, detailed look at the demographic, social, and economic conditions of households within the precise administrative boundaries of the nation's public school districts. The 44 CD-ROM Set Because school district boundaries rarely align neatly with standard Census geographies like counties or tracts, allocating accurate census data to them was historically incredibly difficult. Before the era of high-speed internet and cloud storage, distributing this massive, specialized dataset required physical media. The SDDB was distributed as a 44-volume set of CD-ROMs, which included:Special Tabulations: Extensive 1990 Census data cross-tabulated for school districts, including a national "U.S. by State" summary volume and highly granular state-by-school district volumes. Integrated Software: Crucially, the CDs didn't just hold raw data. They were bundled with custom access, display, and data extraction software. This allowed statisticians and econometricians to query, filter, and pull customized datasets directly from their desktop workstations without needing mainframe computing power. Historical Significance and Legacy The SDDB was a major leap forward for educational spatial analysis. By leveraging early iterations of Census TIGER/Line files to overlay school district maps onto census blocks, researchers could finally get precise socioeconomic profiles of the populations funding and attending specific local schools. The integration of relational databases, spatial datasets, and specialized querying tools on those 44 CDs laid the foundational concepts for modern demographic and economic data explorers. That pioneering approach to data ingestion and geographic integration directly paved the way for the sophisticated desktop software, interactive maps, and web-based GIS applications—like those managed by ProximityOne today - that seamlessly merge modern American Community Survey (ACS) updates with complex school district datasets. Terms of Use .. go to top There is no warranty associated with any aspect of this page, links or calendar. The user is solely responsible for any use made of this information. The content is subject to frequent update. For those interested in conveying this information to a stakeholder community, consider a link to this page. ProximityOne User Group .. go to top Join the ProximityOne User Group to keep up-to-date with new developments relating to metros and component geography decision-making information resources. Receive updates and access to tools and resources available only to members. Use this form to join the User Group. Support Using these Resources Learn more about accessing and using demographic-economic data and related analytical tools. Join us in a Data Analytics Web session. There is no fee for these one-hour Web sessions. Each informal session is focused on a specific topic. The open structure also provides for Q&A and discussion of application issues of interest to participants. Additional Information ProximityOne develops geodemographic-economic data and analytical tools and helps organizations knit together and use diverse data in a decision-making and analytical framework. We develop custom demographic/economic estimates and projections, develop geographic and geocoded address files, and assist with impact and geospatial analyses. Wide-ranging organizations use our tools (software, data, methodologies) to analyze their own data integrated with other data. Contact us (888-364-7656) with questions about data covered in this section or to discuss custom estimates, projections or analyses for your areas of interest. |
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