Data – Reference at Newman Library

UK Census and US Election Data in the Social Explorer

The Social Explorer has recently added some new datasets. US Demography is still their primary module, which includes historical and current US Census data from the decennial census and the American Community Survey. But if you were looking for UK Census data, you’re now in luck! The United Kingdom 2011 Census is available for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The UK module works the same way as the US one; you can make good-looking web maps using a variety of different geographies, and download census reports.

Just in time for the upcoming 2016 election, they’ve added a US Election Data module. You can create maps of voter registration and actual election outcomes for presidential, congressional, and gubernatorial elections at the state and county level for the past decade or so. Unfortunately you can’t download any of the underlying data; they’ve partnered with Dave Leip’s and his Atlas of Presidential Elections, and he holds a virtual monopoly on this information. There are public and free alternatives for voter registration and federal election data at the state level, but they are from two different sources: the Census Current Population Survey for the former and the Federal Election Commission for the latter. A central, reliable, public source for county-level data is non-existent. Despite this large shortcoming, the Social Explorer module is still useful for exploring and visualizing election data.

The Social Explorer is available via our databases page, and you can access each of the modules under the Maps heading. Scroll down and pick the one you’d like.

Updates to the ReferenceUSA Historical Data

Over the summer we purchased two files that include all of the businesses and many of their attributes that were in the ReferenceUSA database for 2013 and 2014. Our historical data collection now covers 1997 to 2014. The data is stored in large delimited text files, and current Baruch students, faculty and staff can request extracts from these files here:

https://www.baruch.cuny.edu/confluence/display/geoportal/ReferenceUSA+Historical

There’s also a link to this page from our list of databases, under ReferenceUSA Historical Data.

This resource is for users who want to study historical change in individual business establishments in a given area over time. In most cases users who make these requests need to have experience with working with large datasets. All of the requests I’ve filled to date are from graduate students or faculty.

Patrons who are looking for current data or who have basic requests should use the ReferenceUSA database instead. Patrons who are looking for historical or contemporary summaries of business establishments (i.e. sums or counts of businesses by type and geography instead of lists of individual businesses) can use the Census Bureau’s County or ZIP Code Business Patterns data instead.

New Interface for the Statistical Abstract

Proquest has recently revised the interface to the Statistical Abstract of the United States, making it easier to use. The abstract is a good source for federal statistics that cover a wide range of subjects at the national, regional, and state levels. It’s also useful for determining which agency or department in the government is responsible for publishing a given statistic. Citations with links back to the original sources make it possible to uncover additional data (in particular, for smaller geographic areas like counties and places).

The interface gives you the ability to browse by subject and to drill down to individual topics, which mimic the chapters and tables that appear in the print edition. Alternatively you can search by keywords or phrases across the current or previous Proquest editions of the abstract. Even though the abstract is from 2015 and the first Proquest edition is from 2013, many of the tables contain historic data that stretch back several decades. After doing an initial browse or a search you have the ability to filter the results by date, source, and subject term. Tables can be downloaded in a presentation-friendly PDF format or a data-friendly Excel format.

The Statistical Abstract was an annual publication that was previously published by the Census Bureau. After over 130 years of continuous publication, the Census Bureau terminated the program for the sake of short-sighted budget cuts. The 2012 Abstract was the last public edition. Proquest acquired the rights to publish the abstract and it has been a proprietary, subscription-based product since 2013. Our subscription includes both the electronic (available via our Databases page) and print (Reference HA 202.A4) editions from Proquest. The Census Bureau still provides access to the older editions they published on their website at http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical_abstract.html.

New Baruch Geoportal Just Launched

We’ve relaunched the Baruch Geoportal, our library’s on-line repository for GIS and geospatial data. Our new front-end uses a Confluence wiki which allows us to: update the site more quickly, spend more time on content and less time on design, and to collaborate more easily. Also, it’s visually integrated with the library’s and the college’s website. Much of the existing content was migrated over, and we’ve added some new material. You can read our inaugural blog post for more details, and then follow along with that blog to monitor updates on the site. The new url is:

https://www.baruch.cuny.edu/confluence/display/geoportal/

The library’s databases list has been updated to reflect this change. If people still have bookmarks to the old address (http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/geoportal/), they’ll automatically be re-directed to the new site (at least for the next few months).

NYC Mass Transit Spatial Layers for GIS

The GIS Lab has just launched a new dataset called the NYC Mass Transit Spatial Layers series. These GIS files contain the stops and routes for NYC buses, subways, and trains (the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North). The files are released under Creative Commons and are available on the Baruch Geoportal at: http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/geoportal/data/nyc_transit/.

We intend to update the data bi-annually. The layers are provided in a shapefile format that can be used with just about any GIS software, and are projected in the local state plane coordinate system commonly used by City agencies. In the future we plan to add an FAQ to provide new users with tips on how to work with the files.

The series was created so that members of the public would have access to well-documented and readily-usable GIS layers of NYC mass transit features. The MTA publishes a data feed for developers that contains data for stops, trips, and routes, but in a format that’s not readily useable in GIS (for example, routes have to be constructed from long strings of coordinates) or readily useable for making basic map representations of routes or stops (the data is in a General Transit Feed Specification format that’s suitable for constructing schedules and timetables). We have essentially taken this raw data, built a process for transforming and cleaning it, and have documented it using spatial metadata standards.

The process was a team effort that CA’s Rachel Weinberg, Josiah Wahlrab, Araby Smyth and I all contributed to. The CUNY Mapping Service at the Center for Urban Research also deserves recognition – they inspired this project through the detailed documentation they provided on their experiences working with this data feed.

Accessibility to Jobs for NYC Neighborhoods

The Rudin Center for Transportation at NYU recently released a report entitled Mobility, Economic Opportunity and New York City Neighborhoods. Included with the report are an interactive map and summary profiles by ZIP Code (together in one PDF) that illustrate how accessible each neighborhood is relative to employment opportunities. In addition to illustrating accessibility, the data also seeks to illustrate the balance or imbalance between available job opportunities (based on the type / sector of work) versus the education, skill, or income level of different neighborhoods.

Accessibility measures and transit routing were generated using the Google Apps API, and the other data comes from the Census: neighborhood demographics from the 2008-2012 American Community Survey, and job counts from the Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) Origin-Destination Employment Statistics. This would be a good resource for our students who are doing neighborhood research.

GIS Practicum Spring 2015

After a hiatus in the fall, the workshops are back! This semester’s GIS (geographic information systems) Practicum, Introduction to GIS Using Open Source Software (featuring QGIS), will take place on the following Fridays:

February 27th
March 27th
April 24th

The day-long workshop runs from 9am to 4:30pm. Current CUNY graduate students, faculty, and staff, and full-time Baruch undergrads are eligible to register. 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.

Registration for both sessions begins on January 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.

NYC Data Guide Neighborhood Maps using CartoDB

The city maps on the NYC Data neighborhood page allow users to view neighborhood areas and click on them to view data directly from the US Census Bureau. There is a map for PUMAs (census statistical areas that have 100k people and are similar in size and shape to community districts) and a map for ZCTAs (ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which represent USPS ZIP Codes that have a geographic area). The PUMA maps point to the latest 3-year profiles from the American Community Survey (ACS), and the ZCTA maps point to profiles from the 2010 Census and the latest 5-year ACS dataset.

Both maps have just been updated to point to 2013 data that was recently released. They can be viewed within the guide, but can be navigated more easily if you hit the full screen button that’s embedded in the map.

Previously, the maps were overlaid on a Google Maps basemap. Unfortunately Google decided to deprecate the ability for people to overlay KML files stored on webservers over their maps. The alternatives they offer are completely unsatisfactory. So, we are now using a free service from CartoDB, a web-mapping service headquartered right here in the Flatiron district, as our new platform. Many thanks go to Data Services CA Rachel Weinberg for researching and experimenting with CartoDB so we could keep this service up and running!

NYCdata Update – NYC Government Structure

As a result of our meeting back in December, the NYCdata team at the Weissman Center has updated their resource based on feedback we provided. They’ve added a sub-section under the Public Safety and NYC Governmental Structure chapter that provides links to government agencies within each of the three branches of government. Over the next six months we will be working with them to update the maps on their site.