Librarian
Local Data Sources
- City of Los Angeles Open Data PortalSearch or scroll down and browse by city financial data, COVID-19, public safety, infrastructure and service requests, housing and real estate, parks and recreation, sanitation, and/or transportation.
- Los Angeles GeoHubGeoHub is a public platform developed to improve communications across citywide departments and agencies. Using geospatial data, GeoHub makes it possible for City officials and the public at large to map datasets about health, safety, transportation, and other topics that inform local decision making.
- Los Angeles Time Data and Graphics DepartmentVariety of data sets and mining tools on topics related to environmental, census, policing, and other social issues.
Census, Datasets, and Analysis Tools
- Social Explorer This link opens in a new window
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Current and historical demographic and social data, plus online tools to create custom maps and reports. Optional personal login account required to save and share projects online. - SimplyAnalytics This link opens in a new window
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A web-based mapping, analytics, and data visualization application with 100,000+ data variables, including: demographic data from the US Census dating back to 1980, the American Community Survey (ACS), consumer spending data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CEX), and D&B's Premium business directory providing access to over 20 million US business profiles. Additionally, users have access to the MRI-SimmonsLOCAL consumer behavior dataset, which includes data on over 8,000 brands and 450 categories as well as crosstab functionality with the Simmons NCS data. Premium market segment data is available from the PRIZM, ConneXions, and P$YCLE datasets enabling researchers to identify target market segments based on lifestyle, tech usage, and income. Localized survey data is available from the Nielsen Scarborough dataset, along with detailed financial data from the Financial CLOUT dataset. Data is available down to the Census Block Group level. - Sage Data (powered by Data Planet) This link opens in a new window
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A repository of publicly, privately, and commercially sourced statistical time-series data, with integrated analysis and mapping tools.
- Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS)IPUMS is one of the all-time great sites for serious demographic and historical research using the U.S. Census microdata.
- State of the Cities Data System (SOCDS)Data for individual Metropolitan Areas, Central Cities, and Suburbs produced by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
- SDA: Survey Documentation and Analysis at UCBSDA is a set of programs for the documentation and Web-based analysis of survey data. SDA is developed and maintained by the Computer-assisted Survey Methods Program (CSM) at the University of California, Berkeley. In archives you can find US Census and California microdata from 1990, 2000, 2000-2003, 2005-2007 and 2006-2008.
- National Opinion Research Center (NORC): Data AnalysisWeb verision of data analysis tool for the General Social Survey (GSS) using NESSTAR from the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.
- National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS)Aggregate census data and GIS-compatible boundary files for the United States between 1790 and 2000. Funded by the National Science Foundation.
- Center for Economic StudiesPublic use microdata and Synthetic microdata available for researchers from the Census Bureau
- Public Use Microdata (PUMS) Areas Cartographic Boundary Files Description and MetadataPublic use microdata sample (PUMS) files from the US Census. Users can use these files to create their own statistical tabulations and data summaries. For Census 2000, there are state-level and national PUMS files. The U.S. Census Bureau first provided PUMS information in conjunction with the 1960 census data tabulations.
- US Census Neighborhood Change DatabaseVPN or Proxy required! Neighborhood Change Database (NCDB) gives users instant access to US Census data from 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2010 at the census tract level. The NCDB contains 1970, 1980, 1990, and 2000 Long Form data and the 2010 Summary File 1 and 2010 American Community Survey (ACS) data with details such as: population, household, and housing characteristics, income, poverty status, education level, employment, housing costs, immigration, and other variables.
- Zillow Housing DataIncludes home values, rentals, pricing, etc. Mostly national by city, but some fields by neighborhood.
Encyclopedias and Reference Sources
The links below lead you to encyclopedias and online reference tools.
These resources are often great starting points because they give broad subject coverage and lists of recommended readings. They provide full-text online access, and you can search down to the article or chapter level.
Encyclopedia of Urban Studies by - This link opens in a new window
Call Number: Online AccessISBN: 9781412914321
- Cambridge Histories Online This link opens in a new window
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Full text online access to the complete 250-plus volumes of the Cambridge Histories. Provides political, economic and social history, philosophy and literature of selected countries and subjects. Continually updated with new volumes taken from the print series as soon as they become available.
- Encyclopedia of Social Problems
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Provides as comprehensive an approach as possible to the multifaceted field of social problems, utilizing experts from anthropology, biology, business, chemistry, communications, criminal justice, demography, economics, education, environmental studies, geography, health, history, languages, political science, psychology, social work, sociology, and women's studies.
- Gale E-Books (formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library) This link opens in a new window
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Encyclopedias, dictionaries, and specialized reference sources in the many disciplines, including Arts, Biography, Business, Education, Environment, History, Law, Literature, Multicultural Studies, Nation and the World, Religion, Science, and Social Science.
- International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences
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A scholarly encyclopedia covering disciplines of the social and behavioral sciences: Anthropology, Economics, Geography, Political Science, Psychology, Social Welfare, Sociology, and related fields and concepts.
- Reference Universe This link opens in a new window
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A good place to start, but note that it is an index to over 15 million articles in 11,000 subject encyclopedias and handbooks, both print and online and does not provide full-text articles. Instead, it will connect you to our catalog so you know where to find the appropriate encyclopedia, dictionary or other reference work. You will be linked to UCLA's holdings for any entries you find. - Oxford Reference This link opens in a new window
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Spans 25 different subject areas, bringing together 2 million digitized entries across Oxford University Press’s Dictionaries, Companions and Encyclopedias. UC subscription allows limited simultaneous users, so if you can't connect try again later. - SAGE Knowledge This link opens in a new window
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E-books and reference works in the social sciences. Includes scholarly monographs, reference works, handbooks, series, professional development titles, and more. Includes books published by both Sage and CQ Press. UCLA subscribes to only a small fraction of the books available, and not all content from Sage.