Finding Data

To explore general government data a good starting place is data.gov. Data.gov is the United States government’s open data website. It provides access to datasets published by agencies across the federal government.

Go to the data.gov home page.

 

Input your keywords into the search bar

• Consider which government agency would collect the data you need.
  • EX: Water Quality can be found in the Department of the Interior
    
     
  • Not sure which department to look for? Google it!
     

Look to limiters on the left-hand side.

• Narrow down by
  • Topic Category (Subject)
  • Organization Types (Geography)
  • Publisher ( Who gathered the data?)
     

Not finding just what you need? Go to the publisher's or department's website. They may be more specific.

• EX: Going to the Department of the Interior's website for data about Water Quality