Research Guides: GIS Data: Getting Started

GIS & Social Sciences Librarian

Email Me

Subjects: Environmental Studies, Linguistics

Welcome

Welcome to Brandeis Library's guide for GIS data. The tabs on the left side of the page are suggested starting points for finding geospatial data for GIS projects.

Please reach out to me if you have any questions or need any help with your research, finding data, etc. My contact information is on the left side of the page, beneath the navigation. Feel free to email or make a Zoom appointment with me.

Select GIS Data Portals

The following resources are just a few of the many sites that include geospatial data. Additional resources are listed on subsequent pages of this guide.

Global

Global Administrative Areas (GADM)
Includes files of the world's administrative areas/boundaries (e.g., countries and lower-level subdivisions).
geoBoundaries
Built by the community and William & Mary geoLab, geoBoundaries is an online, open license resource of boundaries (i.e., state, county) for every country in the world. They currently track approximately 1 million boundaries within over 200 entities, including all 195 UN member states.
UNEP Environmental Data Explorer
Site includes geospatial data sets, covering topics like freshwater, population, forests, emissions, climate, disasters, health, and GDP.

United States

Data.gov Geospatial
Data portal with geospatial data and resources, including an interactive map of submerged land information, maps of air quality across the U.S., data on water resources, and more.
U.S. Census TIGER/Line Boundary Files
Spatial data sets from the U.S. Census Bureau, containing features such as roads, railroads, rivers, as well as legal and statistical geographic areas.
Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data (HFILD)
Provides national foundation-level geospatial data for the U.S. Coverage includes a variety of topics, including agriculture, finance, law enforcement, natural hazards, etc.

Massachusetts

MassGIS Datalayers
MassGIS is the official GIS data clearinghouse for the state of MA. The site includes data for the census, administrative boundaries, infrastructure, recreation, and more.

More Geospatial Data Collections

World Bank Data Catalog: Geospatial Data
Geospatial data sets from the World Bank. Includes satellite imagery, vector & raster data, georeferenced environmental, agricultural, hydrological data, etc.
Harvard Geospatial Library
Geospatial data and digitized maps from Harvard, MIT, Tufts, MassGIS, Berkeley, and Stanford data repositories. Global coverage.
Big 10 Academic Alliance Geoportal
Geospatial data, web services, and digitized historical maps. Resources are selected and curated by librarians and geospatial specialists at research institutions in the Big Ten Academic Alliance.

For use with ESRI / ArcGIS software

Living Atlas of the World
Collection of geographic information from around the globe. It includes maps, apps, and data layers to support your work. Site includes publicly-available and subscription-only content.

Related Research Guides

Interested in learning more about GIS, data services, etc. at Brandeis Library? Check out some of our other research guides:

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
by Alex Willett Last Updated May 15, 2023 278 views this year
Maps, Atlases & Gazetteers
by Alex Willett Last Updated Feb 16, 2023 609 views this year
ArcGIS Online
by Alex Willett Last Updated May 23, 2023 320 views this year
ArcGIS StoryMaps
by Alex Willett Last Updated May 23, 2023 700 views this year
Data Services
by Margarita Corral Last Updated Apr 13, 2023 666 views this year
Evaluating Online Information
by Jennifer Giordano Last Updated Aug 15, 2022 1620 views this year