LibGuides: Data Sources: Home

Related Libguides

UNLV Data Management
The University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) University Libraries created this website to provide helpful resources for researchers designing or implementing a data management plan.
UNLV Government Information
Information on how to find publications that are produced by government agencies covering a wide variety of topics

Data Introduction

Data is the collected values or facts that may be interpreted and allow insight into a particular topic. Data can be qualitative or quantitative but ultimately it's purpose is to explain or explore ideas and issues. For that reason, data can be extremely valuable to a wide range of people and entities. If you want to dig into a phenomenon, you want data. Data can be analyzed and interpreted using data analysis to answer “why” or “how” and further our knowledge.

Raw Data = The direct result of research that was conducted as part of a study or survey. It is considered a primary source and is usually stored digitally. It may require data cleaning to be usable.

Open Data = A term to categorize data that is openly accessible, freely used, re-used, modifiable, and can be redistributed; sometimes with the condition of attribution.

Ideas for Finding Data

Define your data needs.
- What: What type of data do you need (spreadsheets, interview transcripts, social media posts, photographs, etc.)?
- Where: Is the data tied to a specific location (city, county, state, regional, etc.)?
- When: Is there a time frame you're interested in? (1914-1918, 2000s, last 3 years, etc.)?
- How: Do you want the data to be broken down in categories (sex, age, income, ethnicity, industry)?
Think about who might collect the data. Oftentimes, datasets are published with reports or in data repositories.
- Government agencies*
- Nonprofits
- Private Business
- Academic Researcher
Look for publications that cite the dataset.
- Scholarly Article
- Government Report
- Grey Literature

Once you know the dataset exists, confirm whether you have access and space to download the data. If it's not freely available, please check with a librarian to determine if the library subscribes to the database. Some researchers also take data requests, so feel free to reach out to them.

*If you are experiencing difficulty finding a previously published dataset, below is a list of places to browse to find the desired information.

End of Term Web Archive
Captures and saves U.S. Government websites at the end of presidential administrations. The EOT has thus far preserved websites from administration changes in 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020.
Wayback Machine
Explore more than 916 billion web pages saved over time. Internet Archive.
Archive of Data.gov
Files in this repository were collected intermittently between 2024-11-19 and 2025-02-06. Beginning on 2025-02-06, the repository will be updated daily. Announcing the Data.gov Archive

Data Rescue Project
The Data Rescue Project is a coordinated effort among a group of data organizations, including IASSIST, RDAP, and members of the Data Curation Network. Serves as a clearinghouse for data rescue-related efforts and data access points for public US governmental data that are currently at risk.
DataLumos
DataLumos is an ICPSR archive for valuable government data resources. ICPSR has a long commitment to safekeeping and disseminating US government and other social science data. They have an older version of many major datasets, including some from the CDC. This is the main repository for Data Rescue Project's data with added data from FEMA, the Department of Education, and IMLS.
ICPSR
Maintains a data archive of more than 350,000 files of research in the social and behavioral sciences. It hosts 23 specialized collections of data in education, aging, criminal justice, substance abuse, terrorism, and other fields. The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) is an American political science and social science research consortium, based at the University of Michigan.
IPMUS
The IPUMS Center for Data Integration, based at the University of Minnesota, provides census and survey data from around the world. Find microdata from the U.S. Decennial Census, the American Community Survey (ACS), and the Current Population Survey. As part of their standard procedures, they download and preserve original data from U.S. statistical agencies that serve as the source data for IPUMS. Since Fri., Jan. 31, 2025, several organizations (and individuals) have downloaded many other public federal datasets. There are efforts underway to catalog and make these data available.
GovTrack
Tracks the activities of the United States Congress.
Climate & Economic Justice Screening Tool
The tool has an interactive map and uses datasets that are indicators of burdens communities experience in eight categories: climate change, energy, health, housing, legacy pollution, transportation, water and wastewater, and workforce development. This tool has been downloaded and rehosted in advance of the Trump administration's takedown of this invaluable website and data resource.
Dryad
An open data publishing platform and a community committed to the open availability and routine re-use of all research data. Generalist repository available to help with data publication, storage, and preservation.
Roper Center
Has collected over 50,000 files (datasets and documentation) from 22 federal survey projects. Efforts to this point have been focused on acquiring the files and ensuring backup copies are preserved on multiple servers. Cornell University.
Data Liberation Project
An initiative to identify, obtain, reformat, clean, document, publish, and disseminate government datasets of public interest.
Big Local News
Gathers data, builds tools and collaborates with reporters to provide access to public records. Some projects have been archived by the Stanford Digital Repository, which ensures their long-term preservation.
MuckRock
Provides a repository of hundreds of thousands of pages of original government materials, information on how to file requests and tools to make the requesting process easier.

Data Sources

Related Libguides

Data Introduction

Ideas for Finding Data

Define your data needs.

Think about who might collect the data. Oftentimes, datasets are published with reports or in data repositories.

Look for publications that cite the dataset.

Locations

Contact