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Research Guides

Eastern Washington University Libraries

Geography

Using Data Repositories

"A data repository is a storage space for researchers to deposit data sets associated with their research. An open-access data repository openly stores data in a way that allows immediate user access to anyone. There are no limitations to the repository access."

 

*****courtesy of: https://libguides.library.ohio.edu/finding-data

Google Dataset Search

Did you know that you can use Google to find data?

  • You can search for specific file types in Google Search, for example, CSV files for datasets. By typing into Google filetype:csv in the search bar you are "telling" Google to only search for things that have that specific file type. For example: (water quality AND washington) filetype:xls will result in XLS (Excel) files mentioning Water Quality in Washington.
    • Limit search results by web domain by typing into your Google search: site:.gov. This will limit datasets, files, etc. from specific websites. You could even do .org for professional organizations.
      • a sample search would look like this
  • Google also has a Dataset Search Tool. When using this tool you will only be searching for datasets by topic!

Suggested Free Data Repositories

Searching for Data Repositories

Need a data repository, but you aren't sure which one? You can search these resources for a very specific repository for your data needs.