data.gov.uk

information, information everywhere
.... but never as easy to get to as you would like to think*

There's so much information out there that it can sometimes be overwhelming.

And what you need isn't always straightforward journal article or book information... and what's worse is when you know there must be statistics or official figures on a particular topic but you just can't find them.

data.gov.uk is hoping to resolve that problem.

"This site seeks to give a way into the wealth of government data" - but is sufficiently easy to search so that if you type in "A & E admissions" you'll get sensible hits.

This is not the first site of its kind, but the first for the UK.

Created by world-wide web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, it aims to provide access to government data, and also to encourage new ways of using the data. Data.gov.uk contains more than 2,500 sets of data from across government including information about house prices, local amenities and services, and access to local hospitals.

More information available at: BBC News, Cabinet Office, Guardian, more from the Guardian,

* apologies to ST Coleridge