Research Desk: Eurostat, Data Repositories, New Reports
Here’s a new roundup of research tools and reports that we hope you find useful.
Data Repositories
As the amount of publicly accessible data continues to expand rapidly the same can be said for places to store and access data sets. One place to find data sets are data repositories from the academic community and other research oriented organizations.
re3data.org (Registry of Research Data Repositories) provides a searchable directory of 
data repositories from around the world.
The repository can also be browsed by subject, content type, and country.
Example: Data repositories in Canada.
As of September 22, 2015, re3data.org provides information about and links to 1330 repositories.
Eurostat
Eurostat is the primary source of official statistics from the European Union. The Eurostat database is loaded with data that can be viewed online and downloaded when needed.
We will spend time going in-depth with this database in the future. Today, I wanted to point out another tool to access Eurostat data.
Eurostat Yearbook: Europe in Figures-The Eurostat Yearbook allows users to browse data by category and then access charts (with links to data sources), data definitions and explanations, and many additional links.
This online resource is updated on a rolling basis as new data becomes available. Near the top of the each page you’ll find the date when the data was “extracted” along with the date the article will be updated.
For example, here’s the page for income distribution. Pages can be printed or downloaded in PDF format.
Eurostat RSS Feeds: Another useful resource on the Eurostat web site is this page that compiles and embeds RSS feeds with data from the national statistical institutes of EU member nations, candidate countries, and EFTA countries.
Research Reports
State of Broadband 2015
The State of Broadband 2015 is published by the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development (International Telecommunications Agency (ITU) and UNESCO).
“Broadband Internet is failing to reach those who could benefit most, with Internet access reaching near-saturation in the world’s rich nations but not advancing fast enough to benefit the billions of people living in the developing world, according to the 2015 edition of the State of Broadband report.”
“The State of Broadband 2015 is the fourth edition of the Commission’s broadband connectivity report. Released annually, it is the only report that features country-by-country rankings based on access and affordability for over 160 economies worldwide.”
On a somewhat related note, a new report and collection of useful links from UNESCO might also be of interest. The report is titled Principles for Governing the Internet: A Comparative Analysis.
From the U.S. Congressional Research Service
- Russian Deployments in Syria Complicate U.S. Policy
- The Chinese Military: Overview and Issues for Congress
- Guatemala: President Pérez Resigns; Runoff Election
From the UK House of Commons Library and House of Lords Library:
- Syrian Refugees and the UK
- Greek Debt Crisis: Background and Developments in 2015
- Recent Developments in the Middle East and North Africa
From the European Parliament Library Research Service
- European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights
- Prospects For Occupational Pensions in the European Union
- Overview of EU Funds for Research and Innovation
- A Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe
Gary Price (gprice@mediasourceinc.com) is director of GIJN’s Resource Center and a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker. He is the author of INFOdocket (@infodocket) for Library Journal, and was a co-founder and senior editor at ResourceShelf and DocuTicker. He previously served as contributing editor to Search Engine Land and director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
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