Friday, 27 November 2009

This We Know - Viewing Statistics from Data.gov

There is a tremendous amount of information provided to American citizens. For all of the questions being asked about governmental data the answers are not always easy to find.

Gateway to Data.gov databases.
This We Know is not a government site but is does display governmental data. The website collects information from www.data.gov and presents it in a format that is accessible.

For example, by typing in the zip code of 91106 I quickly found out that:
  • How much pollutants were release in the air and by which companies within the zip code.
  • How many people are unemployed in Pasadena, CA.
  • How many factories are in the area.
The information is drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau, Data.gov and other statistic data bases. It seems to be in the early stages so what you see is what you get. I imagine as time goes on users would be able to ask questions via the website to draw answers form Data.gov.

At least, I hope so.

But if you like your data raw, massive and plum overwhelming there is nothing like going to the source, in this case the Data.gov Tools page:

Tools Catalog via Data.govOn the Tools page is a gateway catalog of the hundreds of governmental websites providing statistical information, information resources and government resources.

You can search by category or by governmental agency. There is a lot of data here. Use what you can, it is for the taking.

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