Statistics: Data Sets

Although there are an increasing number of public repositories where you can find data sets, you'll need to be creative and persistent. The best place to start is by asking your professor about data sets. They might have insight into disciplinary resources and can help you shape your inquiry. You're also always welcome to consult with a librarian. 

There are also a lot of other library guides out there with lists of publicly available data sets, so even googling "publicly available data sets" or just "data sets" will give you some options. You'll find either other library guides or some data sets themselves.

We are monitoring the disappearance of government data and websites; the removal began on 2/1/25. Many individuals and organizations have been collecting and compiling removed data. You can find links to many of those here. If you come across links that are not here, please email us to have it included.

Guides from Other Libraries: We are indebted to the work being done by libraries and other organizations to document and preserve removed data. We will link to guides and resources as we become aware of them. 

• Finding Government Information during the 2025 Administration Transition - from the University of Minnesota libraries: "This guide will point to resources that identify and track steps taken by the Trump administration and Congress to scale back or eliminate access to federal government information. It also provides links to groups performing data and website rescue."
• Disappearing Federal Data - from Collins Memorial Library at the University of Puget Sound

General/Overall:

• End of Term Web Archive
• GovWayback - access government documents via the Wayback Machine from prior to January 20, 2025 using the directions provided

Environmental Data & Information:

• Public Environmental Data Project - read about the project here
• Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data - from the Urban Ocean Lab

Heath Data & Information:

• Restored CDC - RestoredCDC.org is an independent project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or associated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or any government entity. Read more about the project.
• CDC Guidelines - from Jessica Valenti, includes information about contraception, sexual health, youth, LGBTQIA, sexual & intimate partner violence
• CDC Datasets

Bluesky users are encouraged to follow the Data Rescue Project (@datarescueproject.org) for updates on efforts and groups who are working to preserve data. The account also provides a "starter pack" of similar accounts to follow. You can also visit their website.

Interested in contributing to data rescue?  Read "Curating for Data Rescue" by the Data Curation Network. You can also consult the checklist for USA federal data backups from MIT libraries.

Here are a few places to start. Be sure to talk with your professor, too, as there are a number of subject-specific data set repositories out there but which are not listed on this guide.