Reference at Newman Library

Author: fdonnelly

MapPluto Tax Lot / Parcel GIS Data

Over the summer the NYC Dept of Planning changed course and started providing their MapPluto product – a GIS dataset with boundaries of every tax parcel and detailed attributes like zoning, land use, land value, building descriptors, and administrative identifiers – for free. Previously the dataset cost $300 for each borough and had very tight restrictions on use. Now anyone can download the latest version from their website.

We had purchased a copy of the 2008 MapPluto data for all five boroughs, and I handled the few requests I had via email. But now that the restrictions are off I’m providing free access to it on the Baruch Geoportal. The data is in shapefile format and can be used in any GIS system (ArcGIS, QGIS, etc.). There is one file for each borough. At this point it’s useful for historic purposes; users who want the latest data should go directly to the City’s website.

China Data Center GIS Datasets

We have purchased some GIS datasets from the University of Michigan’s China Data Center. The datasets include boundaries for provinces, counties, prefectures, and cities, as well as current and historic census data that can be joined to these boundaries for mapping and analysis. The datasets also include geographic features like roads, railroads, and rivers. In addition to the national series we have some detailed collections of data for the provinces of: Beijing, Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Shanghai.

The data is in shapefile format and can be used with any GIS software (ArcGIS, QGIS, etc.) In some cases some of the data tables are provided in Excel format, for patrons who are interested in working with the statistics without the mapping elements.

A list of the datasets is available on the Baruch Geoportal. Use is limited to current Baruch students, faculty, and staff for educational, non-commercial purposes. Since the data is copyrighted and I don’t have a secure method of distribution, anyone who is interested should contact me (using their Baruch email address) and I can send them the data, or make arrangements to give them copies.

Federal Government Shutdown Cuts Access to Data

Thanks to the ineptitude of our federal government, many public datasets have ceased to be available until further notice. These are just a few that we use pretty heavily, but it’s likely that access to data from many agencies will be effected:

  • The Census – their website Census.gov and the American Factfinder are ENTIRELY UNAVAILABLE (see this notice)
  • The Bureau of Labor Statistics – their website is still up but it (and their datasets) will not be updated
  • The SEC – EDGAR is still up and running, as the SEC funds many of its programs through license and user fees.

For alternatives to the Census you can steer students to the NYC Dept City Planning for local data and to our databases (Social Explorer, Infoshare, Statista) and the NHGIS for local or national data.

Trial for PolicyMap

We’ve just re-activated our trial to PolicyMap, a US web-mapping database with statistical data of interest to people in business, public policy, and the social sciences. The last trial ran during the final exams period in the spring, and thus didn’t get much attention. The trial is active again from now until Oct 31st and is accessible on campus via our list of trial databases.

Feel free to take a look and ask faculty who may be interested to do the same, and send feedback to Mike.

A description from PolicyMap’s literature:

“PolicyMap provides access to thousands of data indicators that can be analyzed as layers, as well as data points, on interactive maps. PolicyMap’s data indicators are related to demographics, neighborhood conditions, real estate markets, federal program-eligible areas, money and income, lending activity, jobs and economy, education, health, and more. Data can be viewed on a census block or census tract level in many cases, city, county, zip, state, US, as well as by congressional district, school district, state house and state senate districts. PolicyMap’s data collection includes but also extends far beyond US Census data.”

“PolicyMap data can be presented as maps, tables, charts and reports that can be incorporated into papers, presentations, blogs and websites. In addition, students and faculty can upload unlimited amounts of their own address-based data for use in PolicyMap, and can share these maps with others.”

IRS Tax-Exempt Organizations in NYC

The IRS Office of Statistics on Income publishes a dataset that lists the names and addresses of all tax-exempt organizations in the country that are required to file with the IRS: the Exempt Organizations Business Master File Extract.

Since we get many questions about non-profits in the city, and since this resource is raw data that isn’t readily useable for all purposes (selecting just the records in NYC is actually quite a chore), I’ve created a subset that contains just the records for the five boroughs. The data is available in a spreadsheet file that contains: one metadata sheet, one sheet that lists all of the organizations, and one that summarizes them by borough and exempt organization subcode. The large majority of records in the file are classified as 501(3)c organizations, which include most public charities and private foundations.

I’ve modified the records by adding a ZIP-5 code, a county/borough code, and by cleaning up and standardizing the city name in the address field; otherwise the records are exact duplicates of what appears in the original IRS file. The records represent all tax-exempt organizations that filed a 990 Form with the IRS – it doesn’t represent all non-profits. Religious organizations, state and federal public institutions, and small charities with annual revenue less than $50,000 are not required to file (but some do anyway). Since the IRS extracted this information directly from forms submitted by filers, records may contain spelling or classification errors and could appear in duplicate. Users will need to bear this in mind, and may have to clean the data further based on their intended purpose.

The file is available via the NYC Data LibGuide, on the Health and Human Services tab in a dedicated box I’ve created called IRS Tax-Exempt Organizations in NYC. If you have a LibGuide for a course or another subject feel free to *link* to this box in your guide if you find it relevant. I’ve created a process that enables me to easily update the data, which I plan on doing on a quarterly basis (the IRS updates its master file monthly). If you link to the box the contents will be automatically updated as I release new versions (whereas if you create a copy, the file will become stale as the copy is severed from the original box).

For more information and full documentation about the dataset you can visit the IRS Exempt Organization Master File page (I also provide a link to it from the LibGuide box).

GIS Practicum Fall 2013

This semester’s GIS (geographic information systems) Practicum, Introduction to GIS Using Open Source Software, will take place on the following Fridays:

  • October 4th
  • November 8th

    • The day-long workshop runs from 9am to 4:30pm. CUNY graduate students, faculty, and staff are eligible to register; Baruch undergrads may register with permission from the instructor. Advance registration is required; the fee is $30 and includes a detailed tutorial manual and a light breakfast. Visit the GIS Practicum page to learn more and to register: http://guides.newman.baruch.cuny.edu/gis/gisprac

    A second, advanced workshop, Introduction to Spatial Databases Using Open Source Software, will be offered for the first time this semester. The half-day workshop runs from 9am to 12:30pm on the following Fridays:

    • October 11th
    • November 1st
    • December 6th

    Eligibility requirements are the same, except that participants must also have prior GIS experience. Advance registration is required; the fee is $10 and includes a tutorial booklet and hot beverages. Visit the Spatial Database Practicum page to learn more and to register: http://guides.newman.baruch.cuny.edu/gis/spatialdb

    Registration for both sessions begins on August 30th. Feel free to circulate this info to students and faculty, but please do not post via listservs. I have fliers in my office if anyone would like some to distribute.

GIS Practicum Summer 2013

I will be running one session of the GIS (geographic information systems) Practicum, Introduction to GIS Using Open Source Software, during the summer semester on:

Friday June 7th

The day-long workshop runs from 9am to 4:30pm. CUNY graduate students, faculty, and staff are eligible to register; Baruch undergrads may register with permission from the instructor. Advance registration is required; the fee is $30 and includes a detailed tutorial manual and a light breakfast. Visit the GIS Practicum page to learn more and to register: http://guides.newman.baruch.cuny.edu/gis.

GIS Practicum Spring 2013

This semester’s GIS (geographic information systems) Practicum, Introduction to GIS Using Open Source Software, will take place on the following Fridays:

  • March 8th
  • April 26th

The day-long workshop runs from 9am to 4:30pm. CUNY graduate students, faculty, and staff are eligible to register; Baruch undergrads may register with permission from the instructor. Advance registration is required; the fee is $30 and includes a detailed tutorial manual and a light breakfast. Visit the GIS Practicum page to learn more and to register: http://guides.newman.baruch.cuny.edu/gis

Feel free to circulate this info to students and faculty, but please do not post via listservs. I have fliers in my office if anyone would like some to distribute.

NYC Geodatabase

The NYC Geodatabase (nyc_gdb) is a new resource I’ve created, designed for mapping and analyzing city-level features and data in GIS. The database comes in two formats: a Spatialite geodatabase built on SQLite that can be used in open source software like QGIS, and a personal geodatabase built on MS Access that can be used in ArcGIS.

The contents of the databases are identical and include geographic features and statistical areas from the US Census Bureau, transit and public facility point features from the City, and neighborhood-level census data. All features share a common coordinate system.

The databases will be updated bi-annually each winter and summer. While primarily designed for use with GIS and spatial database software, they can also be used to a limited extent with relational database software like MS Access and the SQLite Manager. I plan on creating a workshop around this resource in the near future.

The databases and associated documentation (including a tutorial and detailed metadata) are available through the Baruch Geoportal at http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/geoportal/nyc_gdb/. It is a public resource, licensed under Creative Commons, that anyone can access and download.

American Factfinder – New Interface

As of today, the Census Bureau has revised the American Factfinder Interface (at http://factfinder2.census.gov/) once again, and this time it’s a good improvement. Previously users had everything and the kitchen sink thrown at them – now there is a choice of paths to follow that range from novice to advanced:

  1. The Community Facts lets you type in the name of a state, county, city, or ZIP Code to get basic profiles from several datasets
  2. The Guided Search gives you a basic set of options and a simple path to follow for viewing and downloading comparison tables for the most common census geographies
  3. The Advanced Search is essentially the previous Factfinder2, and gives you access to the entire range of census datasets and variables for all geographies
  4. The FTP site provides power users with a way of downloading tons of data at once

I’ve updated the PDF tutorials / handouts that I mentioned in my post a few days ago to reflect these changes (they’re in the NYC Data and US Census Data LibGuides).