Library Guides: Datasets for the Social Sciences: Geospatial Data

Geospatial Data Tools

ArcGIS Online
The leading software for creating digital maps. For help tutorials, visit this page.
Google Maps
Create, annotate, store and share maps. View Google support documentation here.

Social Explorer This link opens in a new window
Easy access to demographic information about the U.S. Create custom maps and reports. Covers 1790 to present.

Get Help at Lehigh:

Lehigh's Library and Technology Services offers Geospatial assistance to students and faculty. The Center for Teaching and Learning (CITL) provides support to faculty, staff, and students with geospatial data, data analysis, and data visualization. Jeremy Mack is Lehigh's Data and Visualization Specialist, and can help with ArcGIS, QGIS, and R and RStudio.

You can contact Jeremy Mack at jsm4@lehigh.edu or 610-758-2944

Local Open Data Sources

Allentown Open Data
Explore and map Allentown data across different categories.
Open Data PA
Comprehensive state government data.
PennDOT Open Data
This site provides access to all of PennDOT's published GIS data that you can map, style, chart, download or share.
Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access (PASDA)
PASDA, PA's official public access geospatial information clearinghouse, provides free public access to geospatial data and information by, for, and about the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Western PA Regional Data
WPRD hosts datasets from Allegheny County, the University of Pittsburgh and other public sector agencies, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations.

National Open Data Sources

Data Commons @ PSU
The datacommons@psu was developed to provide a resource for data sharing, discovery, and archiving for the Penn State research and teaching community.
Data.gov
The purpose of Data.gov is to increase public access to high value, machine readable datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government.
Data USA
"The definitive place to explore US public data" (website description).
National Park Service Data Clearinghouse
Comprehensive aggregate of NPS data.
Open Data by State
List of open data sources by state compiled by UMD.
Open Data Network
Provides datasets across industries for US city areas.

International Open Data Sources

ESRI Open Data Repository
Searchable index of ArcGIS datasets.
Global Administrative Areas
Boundaries of subnational administrative districts.
Downloadable in shapefile, geodatabase, KMZ, or R formats.
Natural Earth
Generalized boundaries for political and physical features in shapefile format. Useful for map-making but not for applications requiring precision.
Open Street Map
Extracts from crowd-sourced OpenStreetMap data.
US Department of State Large-Scale International Boundary (LSIB)
Believed to be the most accurate available worldwide international boundary vector line file.

Datasets for the Social Sciences

Geospatial Data Tools

Local Open Data Sources

National Open Data Sources

International Open Data Sources

Library and Technology Services

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