May 1st, 2009
OK, I lied...I have to point out Google Public Data
I know I said I wouldn’t be posting anything to speak of today, but one of our history teachers mentioned Google Public Data to me and I just had to write a quick note about it. It’s been features in a few spots, but the Washington Post has a nice summary of its features. Essentially, Google Public Data is making buried government statistics accessible through search. Although it has a ways to go, it’s already an interesting tool for social studies and statistics courses.
According to the Post,
“The tool, called Google Public Data, is the latest in the company’s efforts to make information from federal, state and local governments accessible to citizens. It’s a goal many Washington public interest groups and government watchdogs share with President Obama, whose technology advisers are pushing to open up federal data to the public.”
While government agencies are required to open up non-classified data and make them available electronically, even seasoned reporters and professional researchers struggle to wade through dated web sites and poor organization to find usable information. Just tossing CSV files on the Web, of course, satisfies the requirements but leaves much to be desired in terms of usability.
Google Public Data, on the other hand, although only cataloging “population and unemployment data from the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics” at this point, is a step in the right direction. The Google blog provides some additional information, but anyone can now essentially type a string along the lines of “unemployment rate for Massachusetts” and be rewarded with data, interactive charts, etc.
Oh just think of the research papers, right? If we can just get students to cite the data correctly.
Follow Chris Dawson on Twitter! Christopher Dawson is the technology director for the Athol-Royalston School District in northern Massachusetts and a member of the Internet Press Guild. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations, but always keep in mind that the opinions expressed here are his own and not those of his daytime employer, even if he talks incessantly about his day job.
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