Ball State's Bureau of Business Research, which collects and analyzes economic data, has eliminated its fax service and is now sending the weekly Indiana Business Bulletin (IBB) electronically each Friday.

"We decided to e-mail our information because it is timelier, less costly and less susceptible to corruption and other problems associated with faxing," said Patrick Barkey, director of economic and policy studies for the Miller College of Business. "The e-mail also contains a hypertext link to our Web page, which we find many of our fax subscribers did not know existed. Also, the e-mail allows us to make greater use of color and encourages instant feedback.

"The IBB is a bit like a blog page because the tables and graphs are laid out in a way that I can make sense of," he said. "From my perspective, the story of the economy never repeats itself and never gets old."

The IBB provides current and comprehensive information about the Indiana economy along with an analysis written by Barkey. His weekly analysis is printed by daily newspapers and other publications around the state, including the Indianapolis Business Journal.

"For those who want to track or simply have as a reference the most current information, the IBB is a valuable resource," Barkey said. "We provide information not only about the state, but also the metro areas and counties."

The Internet-based IBB has about 250 statistical tables and 1,200 graphs. The majority are updated daily. The information is primarily collected from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

Subscribers may request data about certain geographic areas. In the future, plans call for the development of interactive tools to allow subscribers to design their own tables, reports and graphs.

The IBB has a current subscription base of 100 organizations with the majority being newspapers, magazines and television stations. Other groups receiving e-mails include some of the bureau's clients, economic development organizations, banks and private businesses.

To subscribe, e-mail the bureau at bbr@bsu.edu.

(Note to Editors: For more information, contact Barkey at pbarkey@bsu.edu or (765) 285-5926. The bureau's online site is www.bsu.edu/bbr.)