ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, May 22, 1996                TAG: 9605220038
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL   PAGE: A-3  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press

U.S. STATISTICS NOW EASIER TO FIND ON-LINE FOR SOME, `BRIEFING ROOMS' WON'T SUPPLANT REFERENCE BOOKS

The White House made it easier Tuesday for Americans to get information from the federal government, through an Internet site enhanced with ``briefing rooms'' full of economic and social data.

The White House added the Federal Statistics Briefing Rooms in hopes of removing a barrier for people who want certain statistics but haven't a clue as to where to go in the federal government to get them.

``All we're doing here is making it easier,'' said Alice M. Rivlin, director of the Office of Management and Budget. ``This is just the beginning.''

So, a few clicks of a mouse will get you the number of people in the United States - or, for that matter, on Earth (5.9 billion and growing each second).

A chart with the number of jobs created last year or over five years can be called up and displayed in blue, violet, orange and magenta. The same is true for rates of violent crime or high school graduations.

The information, gleaned from each federal agency, is broken down into economic statistics and social statistics. They represent the latest indicators, such as income, employment, prices, education, health or crime.

Much of this information is already supplied on other Internet sites and in publications, such as the Statistical Abstract of the United States.

White House officials felt the information needed to be available at one central place so the public can easily find it, said Sally Katzen, administrator of OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

Katzen expects the site to be tapped most frequently by reporters, corporate strategists, students and scholars.

``I suspect social statistics will get the early first hits,'' she said. ``There is an enormous thirst.''

Maybe so, but some still will quench that thirst in tried and true ways.

``I myself prefer that old copy of the Statistical Abstract of the United States, my favorite book,'' said White House spokesman Mike McCurry. ``When fights break out at the dinner table you can always pull the thing out and have facts ready at your fingertips.''

The Federal Statistics Briefing Rooms can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/fsbr.

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