The U.S. Census Bureau is now putting data from the 2000 census on its Web site in a form reporters can use to quickly track down some demographic information on states, counties and cities across the country.

While much of the 2000 census information will come out later this year and next, you already can get racial population breakdowns on the city and county level.

The main gateway to the 2000 census data is at the Census Bureau's American FactFinder page.

At that page, in the box to the right labeled 'Start with Basic Facts' you can access the ethnic population data for states, counties and cities in the United States.

For data on a particular state, click on the 'select a state' box, pick one of the states listed in the drop-down menu and then click on the Go button.

That will call up a chart with the overall population and the breakdown by racial group for the state you selected.

To get information on a county level, go back to the American FactFinder main page, click on the box to the right of the word 'For' and this time select 'a county' in the menu.

When the screen is done refreshing itself, click on the 'select a state' box and pick one of the states listed in the drop-down menu. The screen again will refresh itself.

Now in the box labeled 'select a county,' click on one of the counties listed in the menu and then click on the Go button.

A chart will come up with the racial population data for that county.

Use the same general procedure for city statistics.

Go back to the American FactFinder page, click on the box to the right of the word 'For' and this time select 'a place.'

When the screen is done refreshing itself, click on the 'select a state' box, and then click on one of the states listed in the drop-down menu. The screen again will refresh itself.

Now in the box labeled 'select a place,' click on one of the cities listed in the menu and then click on the Go button.

A table will come up listing the racial population data for the city you selected.

Future Data Releases

This information is just the beginning of a flood of more detailed demographic data on housing, income, employment, etc. that will be going up on the Census Bureau site in the coming months.

To keep up on what will be released and when, consult the Census Bureau page.

This page lists the release dates for various types of Census 2000 information.

The Population Reference Bureau has an even more detailed table on upcoming releases of census data.

Or you can sign up for e-mail delivery of news releases by the Census Bureau on the 2000 census.

Other Resources on Census 2000

There are several more good resources that journalists can tap to help understand the Census 2000 data, which can be tricky to use. For example, the Census Bureau treats racial groups like Whites, African Americans and Asians differently from ethnic groups like Hispanics. There also were changes in the questionnaire for the 2000 census that allowed people to select more than one racial category.

The Population Reference Bureau has a good report that explains how the racial categories in the census have evolved and what's different in the latest census.

A very comprehensive overview of the Census data has been put together by Steve Doig, a former Miami Herald reporter and editor who now holds the Knight chair in computer-assisted reporting at Arizona State University's Cronkite School of Journalism School.

Doig's overview is called, 'Reporting Census 2000: A Guide for Journalists.'

Included at the site are explanations of what reporters need to be careful about in interpreting the new census information and tips on how to use the data in stories.

Finally, Steven Ross, a professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism who also teaches computer-assisted reporting, has put his lecture notes, tutorials and other information on the 2000 census up on the Web.

They include a history of how the census evolved and details on the questionnaires used.