Skip to Main Content

Louisiana and Southern History: Louisiana Misery Index Resources

This guide is designed to help students find resources on Louisiana and Southern History. It may be used in conjunction with the United States History--Civil War guide.

How It All Started - Louisiana Misery Index Blog

From C. B. Forgotston's blog, via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine

Louisiana Misery Index

Sources

Many reliable statistics are available on the United States government websites. For example, using the terms "Louisiana child poverty" in Census.gov yielded tables, maps, other facts, and news. census.gov can also be browsed by topic. For more ways to use government data, see the Government Information LibGuide.

  • Accomodation, Food, & Other Services
  • Agriculture
  • Banking, Finance & Insurance
  • Births, Deaths, Marriages, & Divorces
  • Education
  • Federal Gov't Finances & Employment
  • Forestry, Fishing and Mining
  • Health & Nutrition
  • Income, Expenditures, Poverty & Weath
  • Labor Force, Employment & Earnings
  • Population
  • State & Local Gov't Finances & Employment
  • Transportation
 
The Louisiana Morbidity Report is published every other month by the Office of Public Health/Infectious Disease Epidemiology Section. Articles cover disease issues within Louisiana. Years 1988 - 2020 are available online.
 
Topical Indices by years available also.
LOUISIANA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
         
Find the following information available.
  • Parish and Community Profiles
  • Buildings and Sites Databases
  • Geospatial Data Download
  • Geographic Suitability
  • Certified Sites
LOUISIANA LIFE EXPECTANCY part of the World Life Expectancy site
 
Find information by topic, race, gender, and age. Example topics follow:
  • Top 15 Causes Map
  • Life Expectancy Total
  • Heart Disease
  • Cancer
  • Accidents
  • Stroke
  • Diabetes
  • Alzheimer's
  • Homicide
  • Hypertension/Renal
 
THE COMMONWEALTH FUND
Health System Data Center
 
Find information State and Local Scorecard information based on specific Commonwealth Fund categories. Comparison graphs can be created here.
         Use the map to view location-specific rankings and results compared to benchmarks. Use the tool on the right to select performance indicators and locations for comparison, and then generate custom tables and bar charts.
                                                                                                                                             
Daily Finance, by WalletPop Staff. 4/5/10 from CQ Press's annual STATE CRIME RANKINGS
 
CRIME IN LOUISIANA - 2010 - A REPORT ON THE NUMBER OF OFFENSES REPORTED TO AND THE ARRESTS MADE BY THE LAW  ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES OF LOUISIANA
 
 
 
 
 

Suggested Databases

Sample Database Searches

Databases offer more precise and sophisticated search capability than open internet search engines like Google. Because they are limited to library resources, they retrieve fewer but more reliable results. Each new database search is an exercise in discovering which search terms to use. When a search retrieves too many  or too few results, experiment with different search terms, fields in the drop-down menus, and combinations.

EXAMPLES:

To find articles on child poverty in Louisiana, try the multidisciplinary Academic Search Complete database. Put each term in a different search box. Notice that each result includes a list of other potentially useful subject terms.

louisiana child poverty ASC screenshot

 

To read about how the COVID-19 pandemic affected Louisiana, try these subject terms: 

louisiana COVID-19 search

 

To search for articles on Women's Health in Louisiana, try this.  Notice that the entire term "women's health" is in one search box.  This will instruct the database to treat it as a phrase in searching for articles.

louisiana and women's health search

 

Or, instead, use the Geographic Term limiter to make sure you only get articles about Louisiana.  (For example, Louisiana State University publishes a lot of material/research that has nothing to do with what goes on in the state.)  Use the limiter instead of the SU subject terms if your results seem unfocused.

When you are not satisfied with your search results, ask a librarian for help.

Recommended Reading