Specialized libraries and organizations have created web portals that make it easier to find and use health statistics. These offer key access points to health statistics.
To use them the researcher:
Locates a website that lists relevant key sites that point to places where material is organized.
Takes advantage of the natural structure of health statistics material. Here are some steps for this.
Looks for material on the websites of agencies that create it. For example, many users will start at the NCHS website.
Focuses on health statistics projects or surveys that address the particular topics of interest. This broad “Table of Contents” approach is a good first step but almost never finds all of the relevant material.
Extends the search to other material created by the agencies that managed the most relevant studies.
Searches can be materially enhanced by using specialized catalogs of the material. And
Digs beyond the apparent content of a work—represented in its title—to find material deep in its tables.