Resources for Librarians

The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) compiles statistical information that is used in research by a broad audience including health professionals, policy makers, physicians, health providers, and students. This page gathers important sources of information found on the NCHS website that librarians can use to catalogue the wealth of publications and data access tools NCHS offers.

Publications and Information Products

Information on the country’s health is constantly changing. Over the years, NCHS has been instrumental in monitoring important changes in health trends. Each year, NCHS distributes hundreds of reports and other publications in a variety of formats, both electronic and hard copy.

• NCHS Publications and Information Products
  Descriptions of recurring and historic publications. Search for a publication using specified search criteria (e.g., keywords, title, and subject).
• NCHS Fact Sheets
  Quick guides presenting specific health topics and NCHS surveys and data-collection systems.
• NCHS E-Mail Updates
  Free e-mail subscription service, which allows users to receive timely notifications when publications and information products become available.
• NCHS Listservs
• Publications Using NCHS Data
  List of reports, articles, journals, studies, and other publications citing data from NCHS surveys.
• How to Cite NCHS Publications and Other Products

Data and Statistics by Topic

NCHS provides a number of resources for quick access to statistics on important public health topics.

• FastStats: Statistics by Topic
  A-Z index of major statistics on various health topics. References to source material and related pages are provided as well.
• MMWR QuickStats
  Supplement to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that highlights data from the latest NCHS publications.
• Key Statistics From the National Survey of Family Growth
  Main findings from the National Survey of Family Growth. All results are from published reports and include references to the source material.
• Data Access Tools
  Tools that can be used to view interactive data and tables, perform database queries, and operate complex data sets.