Emerson College Library: Open Education: Open Data

Open Data

Open data is "freely available on the internet permitting any user to download, copy, analyze, re-process, pass to software or use for any other purpose without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself" (SPARC). Open data allows for the independent verification of research results by users, as well as innovative ways of using existing data in new research. Primary goals of sharing data are to make science more accurate and robust.

Federal policy in the United States, coming most recently in the 2022 Public Access Policy Guidance from the Office of Science and Technology Policy, has mandated that the public have free availability of federally funded research materials, including data. If research is funded through public tax dollars, then the public should not have to pay to access it a second time. This and similar mandates have resulted in the rapid growth of digital repositories for the open sharing of data.

Where to Find Open Data

Re3data
Re3data is a global registry of research data repositories that covers research data repositories from different academic disciplines. It includes repositories that enable permanent storage of and access to data sets to researchers, funding bodies, publishers, and scholarly institutions. re3data promotes a culture of sharing, increased access and better visibility of research data.

United States

Data.gov
Data.gov is the United States federal government’s open data site, and aims to make government more open and accountable. Searches on the Data.gov catalog will return relevant datasets from both federal and non-federal sources.
Federal Reserve
The Federal Reserve is the central bank of the United States.
GSS Data Explorer
The General Social Survey (GSS) has been monitoring societal change and studying the growing complexity of American society. The GSS is a publicly available national resource, and is one of the most frequently analyzed sources of information in the social sciences.
National Institute of Mental Health Data Archive (NDA)
The National Institute of Mental Health Data Archive (NDA) makes available human subjects data collected from hundreds of research projects across many scientific domains. NDA provides infrastructure for sharing research data, tools, methods, and analyses enabling collaborative science and discovery. De-identified human subjects data, harmonized to a common standard, are available to qualified researchers. Summary data are available to all.
Analyze Boston
Analyze Boston is the City of Boston's open data hub to find facts, figures, and maps related to our lives within the city. The city is working to make this the default technology platform to support the publication of the City's public information, in the form of data, and to make this information easy to find, access, and use by a broad audience.

International

Canada Open Data
Search open data that is relevant to Canada and Canadians, learn how to work with datasets, and see what people have done with open data across the country.
CIA World Factbook
The World Factbook provides basic intelligence on the history, people, government, economy, energy, geography, environment, communications, transportation, military, terrorism, and transnational issues for 266 world entities.
Data Europa
Data Europa is a central point of access to European open data from international, European Union, national, regional, local and geodata portals. It consolidates the former EU Open Data Portal and the European Data Portal.
International Database, US Census Bureau
Find demographic indicators, population pyramids, mapping, and source information for countries and areas of the world with a population of 5,000 or more.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Data Portal
The IMF Data Portal is the IMF’s new and improved dissemination platform that provides for greater data visualization and statistical tools. The suite of tools offered by the platform is extensive and strengthens the narrative and analysis of data and allows users to customize their data experience.
IPUMS
IPUMS provides census and survey data from around the world integrated across time and space. IPUMS integration and documentation makes it easy to study change, conduct comparative research, merge information across data types, and analyze individuals within family and community contexts. Data and services available free of charge
UNdata
Users can search and download a variety of statistical resources compiled by the United Nations (UN) statistical system and other international agencies.
World Bank Open Data
This site is designed to make World Bank data easy to find, download, and use. All of the data found here can be used free of charge with minimal restrictions.
World Inequality Database
The World Inequality Database aims to provide open and convenient access to the most extensive available database on the historical evolution of the world distribution of income and wealth, both within countries and between countries.