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Internet and E-Commerce Information

  1. Introduction
  2. Background Information
    1. Books
    2. Articles
    3. Web sites
    4. Statistics Canada
  3. Internet Usage and Access
    1. Books
    2. Articles
    3. Web sites
    4. Industry Canada
  4. E-Commerce
1.  Introduction
Internet access and usage statistics and e-commerce data and reports are outdated almost as fast as they are produced, so it is difficult to produce a guide that doesn't require daily updating.  Instead, I've provided suggestions on how to search for books, articles, and Web sites on Internet use and e-commerce along with a few examples of sources.  If this guide doesn't help you find what you need, please don't hesitate to ask for assistance at the Library's help desks.

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2.  Background Information:
Internet and E-Commerce Statistics: What They Mean and Where to Find Them on the Web
We all know that statistics of any sort need to be handled with care.  Numbers on the size of the Internet and the prospects for e-commerce are certainly no different.  This U.S. Congressional Research Service Issue Brief is made available to the public by the National Council for Science and Environment (NCSE).  It covers the many issues involved in gathering and reporting Internet statistics, and it offers many links to Internet/e-commerce data sources. The issues are still relevant, although many of the links are now outdated.

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3.  Internet Usage and Access

3a.  Books:
Search the library catalogue using subject headings starting with Internet or World Wide Web.  Depending on what you are looking for, you may get more specific results by adding a country or subtopic to the end of the subject; for example, Internet - Canada or Internet - Social aspects.  Once you have a set of results, you can jump to the most recent items (more likely to have current data) by sorting the list by date: click on Limit This Search at the top of the screen and check the box beside Sort results by year.  Note that books are unlikely to have data from the last few months, but they will have good background information and they may provide clues (association names, etc.) to where you can get more data.

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3b.  Articles:
Articles in popular or academic magazines often contain complete reports or at least highlight statistics from research reports.  The main databases to try include:

Business Source Complete and Academic Search Premier.  Try searching for terms such as Internet users; Internet Industry; and Internet (Computer network).  (In general, a search for Internet and Statistics - both in the subject field - should cover most of the relevant items.)

CBCA Complete
Try the subjects: Internet access or Internet users to start.

Passport GMID
Includes data from many countries (with forecasts) on topics such as the number of online households, the number of PC owners, and the number of ISDN subscribers.

Ipsos Canadian Inter@ctive Reid Report:  2009 and 2010
Has data on the demographics of Canadian internet users, and on their main sources of information. The same publisher is behind our main public opinion polling database: Ipsos News Centre.


** For other database suggestions and assistance, Ask Us!

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3c.  Web sites:
There are many web sites that provide data on Internet usage by country, language, income, etc.  In general, rather than spending time doing random searches, it's a good idea to start with known sites (such as those listed below) and check to see if they link to any similar sites.  You could also try searching for sites that link to a known site: enter the known site's name as a phrase (within quotation marks) or its web address preceded by "link:" in a search engine such as Google.  For example, a Google search for sites that mention "ClickZ" often produces useful results.  Similarly, a Google search for sites that link to the address of the ITU's ICT Stats page [search for link:http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/] can lead to other good sites.
Sample sites:

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3d.  Statistics Canada:
From the advanced search page at the Statistics Canada site, try a search for phrases such as Internet use, Internet usage,or Internet access.  Check your results for relevant tables and charts of statistics in The Daily and for Statistics Canada Catalogue or CANSIM publications as well.  Keep in mind that we have most, but not all, Statistics Canada publications here at the library.
A few sample Statistics Canada results:

3.e. Other
US Census Bureau: Data on Computer Use and Ownership

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4.  E-Commerce

 

General introductory sites on e-commerce:
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4a.  Books

 

Start with the online encyclopedia: Gale Encyclopedia of E-Commerce (SFU researchers only). For more books, search the SFU Library catalogue using such subjects as Electronic commerce, Internet advertising, or Internet marketing.   You may get more specific results if you add country names or subtopics to the ends of these subjects (e.g., Electronic commerce - Canada or Electronic commerce - Case studies).  As mentioned above, it may be a good idea to limit your search and sort the results by year to get the most recent items at the top of the list.
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4b.  Articles and Reports
 


 

Business Source Complete:

  • Try the subjects Electronic commerce, Internet, Web sites, or World Wide Web (possibly combined with the subject Marketing).  You might find it useful to narrow your search using additional subjects such as Consumer behavior, Statistics, Public opinion poll, Marketing strategy, Research, or Trends.

  • Check the box next to "Scholarly journals" to focus your search on more academic articles.


CBCA Complete:

  • Try the subjects Electronic commerce, Online sales, Business to business commerce, Online advertising, Web sites, and World Wide Web.

Passport GMID:

  • Includes data from many countries (with forecasts) on topics such as the number of online shoppers, the expenditure per online shopper, and the total amount of online spending. Start by doing a Text Search (top, lefthand corner of the database) for Internet Retailing in the report title to get many country reports.

Global Entertainment and Media Outlook

  • The SFU Library has online copies of the last several editions of this annual Pricewaterhouse Coopers report, complete with forecasts and economic analyses of topics such as Internet advertising and Internet usage. 

For e-commerce articles from more popular (less academic) magazines, try any of the following:

 

Fast Company | CIO | RedHerring | ZDNet News (click on 'News' in the top bar) | The Industry Standard | eWeek

 


** For other database suggestions and assistance, ask at the Help Desk in any SFU Library branch..

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4c.  Web sites

As discussed above, there are many sites with information about e-commerce.  Use the sites below as starting points in your research and either link from them to other sites, or search for sites that link to them.  Also note that many of the sites listed in the Internet Access section above may have some e-commerce information.
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4d.  Industry Canada & Statistics Canada

 

Industry Canada's Strategis site has a wealth of information about the e-commerce environment in Canada:

Statistics Canada also measures this area: for example...

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Owned by: Mark Bodnar
Revised by: Mark Bodnar
Last Modified: 2011-01-28