Social Explorer: Using the Social Explorer Database: Home

Social Explorer is a database that enables you to explore over 500,000 data indicators and over 220 years of data for the United States from present to 1790, including all Decennial Censuses, American Community Surveys and many other datasets.

Social Explorer: Explore your world, share your insights.

Social Explorer helps you gain deep insights into any location of interest through thousands of data variables and stunning visualizations, and reinforces your decisions with reliable data mapping capabilities.

Whether you're a student, an educator, or a librarian, this guide is designed to help you get started with Social Explorer, and get the most out of the maps, data, and tools we offer. 

To get started:

• Log in to Social Explorer via your library's website, or directly via the Social Explorer login page and explore on your own
• Check out the boxes below for recommended starting points for students, educators, and librarians 
• Review our guides and videos for walk throughs of how to use main features such as maps, reports, and visualizing data
• Click on the page for your discipline to explore a curated list of maps, data sets, and teaching and learning modules by topic

Need help? Please visit our help center or contact us!

Social Explorer Training Modules

These training modules are built using the Social Explorer "Tell a Story" tool.  These are great resources for patrons looking to build data visualizations for their course work and research.  The "Tell a Story" tool allows you to easily share your research and coursework with others.  Work your way through these training modules to quickly gain expertise in using Social Explorer.

• Data Categories and Sources: Social Explorer offers a wealth of historical and current data. This module explains how to find the data you are looking for.
• Layer Library: Social Explorer's Layer Library provides you with the tools to add more visual insights to your maps.  Let's take a look at how to add map layers from the Layer Library.
• Comparison Views: Social Explorer allows you to compare variables by showing them side by side or swiping between two maps. Let's explore how to make map comparisons in Social Explorer.
• Geography Levels: Social Explorer allows you to examine datasets at a wide variety of geographic levels from city, county, and congressional districts, all the way down to school district, census tract, and block group. Let's find out more about geography levels on Social Explorer.
• Types of Visualization: Social Explorer can display data as a shaded area, dot density, or bubble map. Let's find out more about these types of visualizations.
• Multivariate Visualization: Social Explorer allows you to map multiple variables on a single map. Let's explore multivariate visualizations.
• Masking and Filtering: The masking tool allows you to focus on a specific map area by removing data from all the surrounding areas, while the data filtering tool allows you to filter geographies by data and identify locations based on your search. 
• Annotations: Social Explorer offers several different types of annotations to enhance your map. These include place markers, hotspots, and a variety of drawing tools.