Locations of 1970 Census data at LBNL

This 1993 memo has been slightly edited, for example to include URLs of the documents that are referred to.

Return-path: <merrill@Csa2.LBL.Gov>
Date:     Wed, 10 Mar 93 12:49:47 PST
From:     merrill (Deane Merrill) @ Csa2.LBL.Gov
Message-Id: <930310124933.20c43a21@Csa2.LBL.Gov>
Subject:  location of 1970 census data
To:       dwmerrill @ Csa2.LBL.Gov
cc:       fcgey @ Csa2.LBL.Gov, hhholmes @ Csa2.LBL.Gov,
          s_selvin @ Csa2.LBL.Gov, mjdurst @ Csa2.LBL.Gov

This memo, mostly for myself, describes where to find 1970 census data. (Until now most of this information resided only in my memory).

1a. The file seedis.lbl.gov:disk$seed1:[seedis.wongl.gss]tlist.df is a list of active tapes in the LBL tape library as of June 1985, the date the tape library closed down.

Active tapes labeled (for example) pop2tr0a or pop2tr0 are GSS tapes containing 1970 2nd count population data at the tract level. Tape pop2tr0b is a backup copy. All tapes are in the tape vault in the basement of bldg 50a. Alan Su is making a complete inventory of those tapes and creating a FileMaker database.

1b. The file ialist.cc describes inactive tapes in the San Bruno archive as of June 1985.

2. In my office, 1970 Census documentation is in binders (filed alphabetically) labeled "SEEDIS - CENSUS - 1970." In the binder labeled "SEEDIS - CENSUS - 1970 - MISC", in the section "Census Data at LBL", is a document: R. Healey, Census Data at LBL using the GSS Tape Storage System, Feb. 1980; original location: PSS BHNOTES/CENSUS. On page 33 of that document are the tape numbers of all "primary" GSS tapes containing 1970 census data. "Secondary" or backup tape numbers can be determined from the file tlist.df, described above.

3. GSS tapes can be read (not written) using software in the CSA cluster. The files on these 1970 tapes are believed to be in SEEDIS compressed format which (with some effort) can be read with the version of EXTRACT in the present version of SEEDIS. The file format is documented in other documents by Bob Healey which are filed under "SEEDIS - CENSUS - 1970" or "SEEDIS - <year> - SEEDIS DOCS".

Deane

summary statistics:

tab-delimited cen70.txt
zip archive cen70.zip (Excel97 cen70.xls, and tab-delimited cen70.txt)

1970 Census tapes in the active tape library
1970 Census tapes in the inactive tape library

back to U.S. Census data at LBNL
back to 1970 Census data at LBNL

http://merrill.olm.net/mdocs/cen70loc.html 4/27/98