DataMarket: Step-by-step

First encounters

You want to see population development for Lebanon.

1. Go to the DataMarket front page
2. Enter Lebanon population into the search box and hit Search. This will return more than 400 search results.
3. Locate the data set Total population and click the title to open it
4. This will open the data set in the data view where you can configure the data you want to examine. This particular data set has only one dimension: Country
5. In the list of countries you'll find Lebanon. Check the box next to it and then click Visualize

Now you can see a graph that shows the development of the population of Lebanon since the 1800. Hovering the mouse on the graph will display the values for individual years. You can compare this to the development of population in other countries by adding checks to the respective boxes and hitting Visualize again.

Any data that has been selected can be viewed in a Table, exported in different file formats, shared on Facebook or Twitter or embedded in any website. Pro users even get additional features like collecting important data into reports for a quick reference of the latest available data that matters to them.

Linking data sets

Now we want to see how the global temperature has changed over the past hundred years.

1. Go to the DataMarket front page
2. Click Find data in the menu at the top of the screen. This opens an overview of the all the providers that supply the data sets.
3. Clicking a provider's name or logo will list the data sets available from him. Locate CDIAC (Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center) and click it.
4. There are not a lot of data sets available from CDIAC yet. Choose Global Annual Temperature Anomalies (Land Meteorological Stations). Open it.
5. This data set also has only one dimension: Metric. Now select Annual Annomaly and click Visualize. Interesting, right? But what about other data relating to global warming?
6. Click the button Add dataset. This will open a small search input box. Enter CO2 and click Search for data. Find the data set CO2 emissions (kt) and click Add to list.
7. Select World from the panel on the left hand side and click Visualize.

Now you see two lines on the graph. As you can see, the data sets are in different units and their range of values is quite different. For the data sets to be comparable, the two lines need separate Y-axes. By clicking the configuration button next to the name of the data set (it looks like a gear wheel), a list of options will appear. Choose Alternate Y-axis. The graph will now update, and you can compare the development of these two values.

This way you can link any two - or more - data sets within DataMarket to compare and merge their data.

Linking time series to events

This time we will look at possible causes of changes in the population development of Lebanon.

1. Open the DataMarket front page.
2. Search for Lebanon population using the search box.
3. Locate the data set Total population and open it.
4. Now select Lebanon from the list of countries. Then click Visualize and look at the chart.

Now you see the same line as before for the popluation development in Lebanon over the time-span of 230 years. Looking at the graph, there is an apparent period of stagnation. By hovering the mouse on the graph you can see that the time-span of this stagnation period is from 1975-1989. What caused this?

Let's investigate...

1. Click the label Timeline Markers just under the graph.
2. This will open a search box to search for news and events. Here you can manually add news or events.
3. Now you can either use the search and it will return news results that might explain what happened at that time or if you know what happend you can create your own marker by clicking the Create new marker button. This allows you to manually enter events to display on the graph. Dates are expected in the format YYYY.MM.DD, e.g. 2007.06.17 for the 17th of June, 2007.
4. For now, we will tell you that the stagnation in the line was caused by the Lebanese civil war. Try adding a few markers to indicate that. Enter 1975.01.01 into Date. You can title them whatever you like. Let's put for now Lebanese civil war begins. Then add URL link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanese_Civil_War and enter Wikipedia in Source. Now click Ok.
For the second time click Create new marker button. Enter 1989.01.01 as Date and Lebanese civil war ends in title. Follow as before with URL and Source. Again click Ok.

Now look at the graph. You'll see vertical line on the x-axis indicating the dates that you entered. Hovering them will show the title and if you entered a URL, clicking them will open that URL in your browser.

The court is yours

Now you should be able to find pretty much any data that is available within DataMarket, compare time series, link them to events and educate yourself about the Icelandic economy, society and nature.

Don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or comments.