Data Journalism Tools

Databases

General databases

• UNData: This tool allows you to search for country level statistics on a wide range of topics from across all UN agencies (e.g., UN Statistics Division, FAO, UNESCO, etc.)
• NICAR: This database library from the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR) covers a variety of topics, including health and the environment.

Medicine and Health

• HealthData: Access to over 1000 health datasets.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) has numerous databases, including the Global Health Observatory and health statistics and information systems.
• Dollars for Docs: Search for general payments pharmaceutical and medical device companies made to U.S. doctors in 2013-2014 (ProPublica database)
• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) Data Navigator
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ): Database covering U.S. medical topics including health care, cost of care, trends in hospital care, health insurance coverage, out-of-pocking spending, and patient satisfaction.
• Global Trigger Tool: Measures Adverse Events (AEs) in healthcare organizations
• Leapfrog Hospital Survey: Reports on safety and quality performance of U.S. hospitals. Categories include maternity care, high-risk surgeries, and hospital-acquired conditions.
• ICD10Data: Index of diagnosis and medical procedure billing codes.
• NIH Health Statistics subject guide in the U.S. National Library of Medicine provides a diverse list of references for health data around the world.
• Human Connectome Project: National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded project to map neural pathways.

Environment and Sustainability

• U.S. Geological Survey Science data catalog
• National Centers for Environmental Information, maintained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
• Climate Central, a hub for information on the impacts of climate change, run by an independent organization of scientists and journalists.
• Climate Data, a site that offers data related to climate change for America’s communities, businesses, and citizens.
• “The Measurement of Sustainable Competitiveness,” a guide to the World Economic Forum’s sustainability-adjusted Global Competitiveness Index, which considers the environmental side of economic competitiveness.
• Environmental Performance Index (EPI), a measure that ranks countries based on 24 performance indicators covering aspects of environmental health and ecosystem vitality.
• Global Forest Watch, a site featuring satellite-derived maps of deforestation data that allows users to create custom maps, analyze forest trends, subscribe to alerts, or download data for their local area or the entire world.
• NASA EarthData, which includes a WorldView tool that allows visualization of near-realtime imagery from NASA satellites related to fires, dust, ash clouds, air quality, drought, floods, and other events. The site also has other mapping and visualization tools, such as FIRMS for fires, and offers access to more than a dozen NASA data centers and associated satellite data products.
• UNEP Live, a hub for environmental indicators on multiple issues, at multiple scales, and in multiple formats, maintained by the United Nations Environment Program.
• World Resources Institute (WRI), a non-profit global research organization providing a variety of data and information on the environment.

Population and Socioeconomic Data

• Population Estimation Service: Hosted by SEDAC (the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center at Columbia University). Draw a polygon around an area (e.g., a cyclone track or toxic release) and get the population in that polygon in real time; iOS app under development
• Population Reference Bureau (PRB): 2014 World Population Data Sheet including interactive map, population clock, etc.
• Human Development Report Data: Human Development Index; Public Data Explorer; Multidimensional Poverty Index
• Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC): Gridded population data, poverty maps, infrastructure data (dams, nuclear plants, roads), PM2.5 maps, national estimates of population and land area by climate/biome/elevation (PLACEv3); map gallery available under Creative Commons licenses; country treaty participation data
• World Bank Data: Includes the World Development Indicators and free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe; thematic portals for agriculture and rural development, climate change, environment and urban development
• OECD QWIDS: International development statistics; OECD is the France-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
• TIGER data: From the U.S. Census of population.

Regional Resources

• Ekuatorial: Indonesia specific datasets on marine, forests, and natural disasters
• InfoAmazonia: An aggregation of environmental datasets for the 9 countries of the Amazon basin including forests, watersheds, industries and indigenous lands
• Open Development Mekong: Development tracker focused on the Mekong
• Third Pole Data Network: An open source geospatial database: a simple, searchable catalog of water-related datasets sourced from leading organization monitoring water in Asia