DASIL makes the data sets it uses for analysis and visualization available for public download whenever possible. Student workers and peer mentors also work with DASIL to clean and organize data sets that can be used for class assignments and research projects. Visit the DASIL website to learn more.
The College Libraries has also compiled resources for Statistics and Data Sets, as well as Data Mining.
Contact Social Studies and Data Services Librarian Julia Bauder to learn more about these resources and other potential ways to access data.
Other Data Sources
Sometimes you may want to collect data that is not already available. For example, social media data or website data is not always readily available in a structured data form. For example, literary scholar Melanie Walsh used a Twitter web API to search for social media content about James Baldwin and Black Lives Matter. HTML files from websites can be downloaded using the Wget command line program. Resources like Hathi Trust and the Project Gutenberg offer full-text downloads of a variety of historical and literary texts. The Library of Congress’s Chronicling America Historic Newspaper Project uses a web API to make data about its vast newspaper collection available to users. Grinnell College Libraries has access to other newspaper data mining options; ask Professor Purcell about this option.
Professor Purcell recommends the following:
- The Virginia Elections and State Elected Officials Database Project, 1776-2008; http://vavh.electionstats.com/
- A New Nation Votes: https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/
- Railroads and the Making of Modern America, University of Nebraska at Lincoln: http://railroads.unl.edu/
- National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS): https://www.nhgis.org/home
- Historical Statistics of the United States database: https://hsus.cambridge.org/HSUSWeb/HSUSEntryServlet
- Historical GIS Clearinghouse and Forum: http://www.aag.org/cs/programs/historicalgis
Schedule a consultation with the your instructor, the Libraries, DASIL, or DLAC to brainstorm additional data sources.
