The Libraries now have a subscription for Social Explorer, a database with historical census data and demographic information from the 1790-2000 U.S. Censuses, American Community Survey, the Religious Congregations and Membership Study, and the 2002 Carbon Emissions Data from the Vulcan Project. You can select data and generate maps to display it, or read the information in report form.

For assistance using this resource, contact a librarian.

In the interest of promoting open government, Data.gov offers a tool for searching and retrieving data produced by the Executive branch of the Federal Government. You can browse for data sets by category or government agency, and you can search raw data by keyword, category or agency. Data sets are also featured, for example the Airline on Time Performance and Causes of Delay from the Department of Transportation, and the DataFerret, “an online anyalytically oriented, self-service tool designed todeliver a wide variety of population, health, economic, geographic and housing information about the United States.”

The Interuniversity Consotieum for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan is a depository for raw data sets in the social sciences. Users have to set up an individual “My Data” account using a UMass email address while on campus, and cant then use this account login for access from anywhere. You can search for data, or browse by subject, country or other countries.