Open Access
When you see this orange open lock symbol, it means the resource (article, data, image, etc.) is free to read and free to re-use. Visit our Open Access site to learn more.
MegaLists of Resources
- Top Data Visualization Software Products ListJust a list of some of the "best" software out there.
The Right Tool for the Job
There are many free and super-reasonable visualization tools out there for you to use. This page will give you a sampling of the possibilities. Remember the goal for your visualization: Who is your audience? What kind of visualization is MOST beneficial for your audience, your story and your data? Please explore, but note that this is a small list of all the possibilities. Also, we (librarians) may try to help you navigate these resources, but we are not all experts on all of the resources listed below.
Visualization Resources
All of these resources have infographics that you can use and/or reference. Some also allow you to build your own or customize what is available through the tool. Please note this is a list of options; library staff may or may not be experienced in these resources.
- CountryWatchIncludes basic information on each country, constantly updated news stories, links to official websites, etc. Topics include government, economy, investment climate, and social and environmental issues. Also includes maps, downloadable data tables, country forecasts, and other information.
- Data Planet
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Data-Planet Statistical Datasets provides easy access to an extensive repository of standardized and structured statistical data. The Data-Planet repository contains more than 18.9 billion data points from more than 70 source organizations. The over 3.9 billion time series in Data-Planet provide immediate access to data presented in charts, maps, graphs, and table form, via multiple points of entry. - SimplyAnalytics
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SimplyMap provides demographic, business, or marketing data from the state down to the local level, allowing users to create customized maps and reports with an almost unlimited number of variables. - SAS
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Analyze large datasets with this software available on the library PC's - S-Plus
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Data modeling & statistical analysis software- available on Library PC's - SPSS
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Statistical & data management software--available on Library PC's - Statista
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Statista is an excellent source of business, economic, political, social, and historical statistics. It is a great place to simply search for your topic to find loads of relevant and useful statistics.
All of these resources either have infographics that you can use or allow you to build/ customize your own. Please note, this is a list of options; library staff may or may not be skilled in the use of these resources.
- Census Visualizations
The first posted visualizations will pertain largely to historical population data, building on prior work done to portray historical changes in the growth and redistribution of the U.S. population. For later visualizations, the topics will expand beyond decennial census data to include the full breadth of Census Bureau data sets and subject areas, from household and family dynamics, to migration and geographic mobility, to economic indicators. - easelly - InfographicsUsers can create eye-catching, informative, and fun graphics on the web. Traditionally, making infographics in order to share things like statistics, lesson plans, and business presentations took time, money, and graphic design skills.
- GapminderThis software unveils statistical time series by converting boring numbers into enjoyable, animated and interactive graphics. The current version of Trendalyzer is available since March 2006 as Gapminder World, a web-service displaying time series of development statistics for all countries. Click on GapMinder World to jump right in.
- Google Books Ngram ViewerCharts frequencies of any word, author name, place or short sentence found in the sources printed between 1500 and 2015 (is case-sensitive)
- Google Public DataCompare datasets from a variety of world-collectors of information to put together an interactive graph to tell a story.
- Infogr.am
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Create and publish beautiful visualizations of your data. Interactive, responsive and engaging. - Information is BeautifulThis site is "dedicated to distilling the world’s data, information and knowledge into beautiful, interesting and, above all, useful visualizations, infographics and diagrams."
- Institute for Health Metrics & EvaluationAnalyze the world’s health levels and trends from 1990 to 2013 in this revamped interactive tool. Use treemaps, maps, arrow diagrams, and other charts to compare causes and risks within a country, compare countries with regions or the world, and explore patterns and trends by country, age, and gender.
- IRIS: Instruments for Research into Second LanguagesIRIS is a collection of instruments, materials, stimuli, and data coding and analysis tools used for research into second languages, including second and foreign language learning, multilingualism, language education, language use and processing. Materials are freely accessible and searchable, easy to upload (for contributions) and download (for use).
- Juice LabsChartChooser- Use the filters to find the right chart type for your needs. Then download as Excel or PowerPoint templates and insert your own data.
- PiktochartChoose over 400 templates from a selection of infographic, banner, report, and presentation formats. From background colors and images to inserting texts and banners, there is a lot of creative freedom.
- Plotly
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Create charts and dashboards online, you can upload excel sheets of data - RAWGraphsTaking Excel spreadsheets and making data viz.
- The R Project for Statistical ComputingR is a free software environment for statistical computing and graphics. It compiles and runs on a wide variety of UNIX platforms, Windows and MacOS.
- Tableau Public
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Tableau software can be bought and downloaded, but the public version is a free taste of this information and data visualization software. - WorldMapBuild your own mapping portal and publish it to the world or to just a few collaborators. WorldMap is open source software.
Some of these software options are available here in the library or are freely available to download. Others you may have to purchase or look into a free trail. Please note, this is a list of options; library staff may or may not be skilled in the use of these resources.
- Dedoose"A cross-platform app for analyzing qualitative and mixed methods research with text, photos, audio, videos, spreadsheet data, etc."
- FlowingDataFlowingData explores how statisticians, designers, data scientists, and others use analysis, visualization, and exploration to understand data and ourselves. Pay/year for membership to gain access to members-only tutorials, a four-week visualization course, and more.
- GephiGephi is an interactive visualization and exploration platform for all kinds of networks and complex systems, dynamic and hierarchical graphs. Runs on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. Gephi is open-source and free
- SAS
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Analyze large datasets with this software available on the library PC's - S-Plus
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Data modeling & statistical analysis software- available on Library PC's - SPSS
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Statistical & data management software--available on Library PC's - Tableau Public
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Tableau software can be bought and downloaded, but the public version is a free taste of this information and data visualization software. - Top Data Visualization Software Products ListAnd lastly, a big list of some of the "best" software out there.