Geography: Finding GIS Data

Finding GIS data using Google

• You can oftentimes find GIS data using straightforward Google searches, such as "oklahoma city gis data". 
• If you want to get fancier, you can limit search results to governmental websites using the site: modifier, for example "oklahoma city gis data site:*.gov". This can help weed out less helpful/trustworthy results.
• If results are lacking, broaden your geographic scope a bit. For example, instead of GIS data for a specific city, look for GIS data for that county or state.

When searching Google fails you, the list below might help you locate what you're looking for. You can also email me at kdyke@okstate.edu or call 405.744.4869 for additional help.

• The US Census Bureau provides many datasets for download
• The USGS National Map contains a wide variety of datasets covering the US
• The Protected Areas Database provides the "best available aggregation of federal land and marine areas provided directly by managing agencies" for the United States
• The National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Geospatial Data Gateway
• Bureau of Land Management Navigator
• EPA Geospatial Resources
• Data.gov is a behemoth that is difficult to filter down to a useful level, but is worth checking out