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Tons of free research from IGOs

Monday, July 26th, 2010

We often publicize a particular database or new publication from an intergovernmental organization and so it seems fitting to highlight just how generous many of these organizations are in terms of providing their publications/statistics/working papers for free to all comers.  Not only do they offer  high quality, scholarly work but you might also be surprised […]

Free data from FAO

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

Unlimited free data on hunger, food and agriculture is now available from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) through its central data repository FAO-STAT.  It was previously possible to get some data for free from FAO-STAT, but larger datasets were only available through a subscription. From the FAO Media Centre:  FAO-STAT “contains over one million […]

Update: Google Public Data Explorer

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

We noted Google’s public data search feature in a November 2009 post and today we have an update for you.  Google Labs has just launched “an experimental visualization tool” called Google Public Data Explorer – designed to “help people comprehend data and statistics through rich visualizations.  With the Data Explorer, you can mash up data […]

Don’t forget IGOs when looking for sources

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) conduct surveys; publish  research findings; collect and disseminate high quality statistics;  produce reports, articles, newsletters, and much more.   In short,  IGOs can be a terrific resource for you when conducting your own research.  Examples: Imagine you are looking for articles and data related to education and gender inequality. You wouldn’t want to […]

New databases from UN system organizations

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU)  is “the oldest international organization in the UN family….(providing leadership) for information and communication technology issues.”  The ITU has just launched its “History of ITU Portal” which contains ITU historical documents from radio, telegraph and telephone conferences.  Note, the process of digitization is currently underway and as of this date […]

World Bank public data now available in Google search

Monday, November 16th, 2009

Google.com has had some US public data embedded in its search results for a while now, but as of November 11 the World Bank’s public data has been added to Google search results.  According to the Official Google blog, “17 World Development Indicators  are now conveniently available to you in Google search…. Complete list of […]

American Community Survey Data 2006 – 2008

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

The US Census Bureau has just released new data: “on a wide range of socioeconomic, housing and demographic characteristics for communities across the nation, part of an ongoing statistical portrait of America. Among dozens of topics covered in the survey are educational attainment, commute times, housing characteristics, occupation, language ability and various other social, economic […]

2009 Eurostat Regional Yearbook now available

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

The Yearbook presents a statistical portrait of life in the regions of the European Union’s member states, candidate countries and the EFTA countries. A broad set of regional data is presented on the following themes: population, European cities, labour market, gross domestic product, household accounts, structural business statistics, information society, science, technology and innovation, education, […]

New site from the Energy Information Assn (EIA)

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

The EIA has just launched a new consumer information site called “Energy Explained, Your Guide to Understanding Energy.”  The site provides a wealth of information on energy: consumption and production statistics, energy units and conversion calculators, energy and the environment, and renewable/non-renewable energy sources.  Also provides some information/statistics on international oil production, consumption and reserves.  […]

Europe in Figures 2009

Monday, September 21st, 2009

Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency, has just released its 2009 issue of Europe in Figures.  This is freely available on-site as a Pdf download and “presents a comprehensive selection of statistical data on Europe.”  It is also produced and disseminated in print.  UBC Library has print copies of this annual publication from 1995 – 2008, […]

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