Research Guides: GIS Data: Getting Started

GIS & Social Sciences Librarian

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Subjects: Environmental Studies, Linguistics

GIS Data Guide

Our GIS Data Guide includes suggested starting points for finding geospatial data for GIS projects.

Please reach out to our GIS Librarian if you need help finding geospatial data for your research. Contact information is on the left side of the page, beneath the navigation menu.

Geospatial Data Portals: Global Coverage

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.

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.
Harvard Geospatial Library
Geospatial data and digitized maps from Harvard, MIT, Tufts, MassGIS, Berkeley, and Stanford data repositories. Global coverage.
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.
UNEP Environmental Data Explorer
Site includes geospatial data sets, covering topics like freshwater, population, forests, emissions, climate, disasters, health, and GDP.
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.

Data Portals: 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.

Data Portals: Massachusetts

MassGIS Data Layers
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.