The search for spatial data can sometimes be difficult, time consuming and frustrating. But it doesn't have to be. Below are some simple tips and tricks to help you to develop better research strategies and methods.
Tip #1 Define what you are looking for
This may seem simple enough, but often times students embark on a search without outlining exactly what they are looking for. This is as simple as defining keywords that will help you during the search process. Here are some helpful questions to ask when helping to define what you are looking for.
- What type of data am I looking for? Ie Population data? Elevation data?
- What area is the data for? Is it local? Regional? World?
- Do I want the data by county? Zipcode? Blockgroup?
- What format am I looking for? Do I want data in vector or raster format? Or both?
Tip #2 Try a spatial data clearinghouse
Now that you have your keywords you can start searching. There are a number of sources online that are data clearinghouses or aggregators that collect and make data accessible using simple searches. This will help you to avoid blind Google searching.
Here are a few that are reliable and well stocked with GIS data.
Tip #3 There is lots of spatial data accessible on the web for free, too.
Government agencies, NGO’s, Intergovernmental organizations and other large organizations are big producers of spatial data. Think about the data you are looking for and try to identify appropriate organizations or department agencies that might provide that data. Are you looking for world mortality rates? Why not try to World Health Organization? Or are you looking for wildlife data for Florida? The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has a large amount of data available through their Fish and Wildlife Research Institute website.
Tip # 4 Not all data is in a GIS format
If you’re not finding the spatial data you need, there are other options to getting the data you want. The simplest is to create the data yourself. As daunting a task as this may sound, it is a real option for many researchers. This doesn’t mean you have to go out and collect the data yourself, but rather than limiting your search to spatial data you may want to start looking for tabular data. You can use that tabular data and link it to some boundary files or basic files, many of which are available in MIUS. For example, you may not be able to find a shapefile for world poverty rates. But you can use a world country shapefile, downloadable from the MIUS Data search, and connect it to a table that lists world poverty rates by country. (For more on this watch our Quick Help Video on Joining Tables).
Again, government organizations, NGO’s and other large organizations are big producers of data. So think about what agency might produce that sort of data and start there. Or check the government documents website for a long list of statistical resources.