blog: Social Explorer adds Census Maps and Data from 1790 to 1930

Of possible interest from across the pond. Seems ot me this picks up very stronly on the theme of scalable research that came up in last year's workshop.

All best,
Stuart

Social Explorer adds Census Maps and Data from 1790 to 1930.
. Now Provides Entire History of US Population Change from 1790 to
2000
. Over 3200 Maps and Thousands of Variables Paint a Picture of US as
It Settles and Expands

Social Explorer, (www.socialexplorer.com) released a beta version of maps and reports based upon data at the county level that provide the entire history of US Population Change from 1790 to 2000. Using US Census data along with boundaries created by the NHGIS (www.nhgis.org) it provides subscribers the most complete tool available to explore and track U.S.
demographic changes. Reports are available for 1790 to 1930 using virtually all of the variables available. Using a data server, subscribers also can download these data and use them for their own analyses. A very limited subset of these data are available publically.

Also released is a visualization of population change in the United States from 1790 to 2000, where one can literally watch the United States expand and settle. Based upon Social Explorers' slideshow feature, registered users are able to store and reuse their own slide shows. To access this visualization go to the file menu on the maps page and click "All Public"
and then the relevant visualization: 1790 to 2000 Population Density. The visualization is avaiable on both the public and the subscription versions.

Social Explorer provides demographic information in an easily understood
format: data maps along with reports. These new data are at the county level from 1790 to 2000. Social Explorer includes census tract data from 1940 to 2000 and other data for more recent years. Data on religious adherents is available for 1980 through 2000. Our next release will include the 2006 American Community Survey, and change from 2000 to 2006.

At this point, this new release and the data server are in beta, and we expect that there may be problems or issues. We also are planning to add a few more feature. We invite all of our users to try out the new maps and reports in beta and send an comments or questions to:
alacevic@socialexplorer.com.

Major support for Social Explorer was provided by the National Science Foundation. Other support includes the New York Times, Queens College and the City University of New York.

Andrew A. Beveridge
Prof of Sociology Queens College and Grad Ctr CUNY Chair Queens College Sociology Dept
Office: 718-997-2848
Email: andrew.beveridge@qc.cuny.edu
252A Powdermaker Hall
65-30 Kissena Blvd
Flushing, NY 11367-1597
www.socialexplorer.com