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Enabling discoverability of open data

Google? search engine Dataset Search enables users to find datasets that are openly available

Dataset Search is a search engine from Google that helps users to find datasets that are available as open data. The tool collected user feedback since September 2018 in its beta version and is now officially launched. Dataset Search provides a single place to search for datasets and find links to where the data is. Currently, Dataset Search has indexed almost 25 million datasets which relate to a variety of topics, the largest ones being geosciences, biology, and agriculture. The European Data Portal (EDP) also helps users to find datasets, however, differs in several ways. The EDP is EU funded and has no commercial interest, metadata is actively shared with the EDP, and it is coordinated by the EDP programme. Searching datasets on the EDP is just one of the many services the EDP provides, such as providing support to member states and education of the public.

Dataset Search is a search engine that guides users to the actual datasets via links, similar to the European Data Portal or the EU Open Data Portal, thus greatly benefiting discoverability of open data. Searching for open data, however, needs to be distinguished from publishing open data. If datasets and their accompanying metadata are not published to begin with, any points of access like Dataset Search or other open data search portals are less useful. Data publishers can make data discoverable in Dataset Search by using schema.org, an open standard, to describe the properties of their dataset (metadata) on their source web page. To learn more about publication, metadata, licences, and re-use open data, find eLearning material on the European Data Portal.

Looking for more open data related news? Visit the EDP news archive and EPD Featured Highlights and follow the EDP via mail, Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.

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