On February 5, 2021 we will be launching a new version of the Data.gov catalog.
The new catalog is the culmination of many months of work in updating the behind-the-scenes functioning of the Data.gov catalog, which automatically harvests over 1000 different sources from federal, state and local open data sources to provide a comprehensive catalog of open government data. The new catalog runs an updated version of CKAN, the open source technology behind the Data.gov catalog, and should improve the process of automatically updating Data.gov with the most recent datasets.
Most users will not notice any differences in the new catalog. At first, the front page of the catalog will show a small reduction in total datasets. That reflects the deletion of outdated datasets from harvest sources that are no longer maintained, mostly at the state and local level. As we have noted in the past, the front page number of total datasets changes frequently as many harvest sources are checked every day for updates. Also, the catalog counts collections of datasets as “1” in the total number. The validation and update of all 1,098 harvest sources should result in an improved user experience with a higher degree of accuracy and fewer broken links. In the coming months, we will deploy additional features to continue to improve the quality of the Data.gov catalog.
