Information Services Team Blog

or, according to Rena Marie Pacella, "The ten most amazing databases in the world." (PopSci. Popular Science, Oct. 31, 2011. Web. 4 Nov. 2011.)

1. Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), "a computer system that stores DNA profiles created by […] crime laboratories in the United States, with the ability to search the database to assist in the identification of suspects in crimes." Wikipedia.

2. The Encyclopedia of Life, a "collaborative encyclopedia  intended to document all of the 1.9 million living species known to science." Wikipedia.

3. FAOSTAT, a Food and Agricultural Organization Statistical Division database "containing over 3 million time-series records from over 210 countries and territories covering statistics on agriculture, nutrition, fisheries, forestry, food aid, land use and population." Wikipedia.

4. The Genographic Project, mapping "historical human migration patterns by collecting and analyzing DNA samples from hundreds of thousands of people from around the world." Wikipedia.

5. "Data Distribution Centre," IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), "provides climate, socio-economic and environmental data, both from the past and also in scenarios projected into the future." DDC. Wikipedia, on the Panel.

6. MD:Pro [Malware Distribution Project], the "world's biggest private malware [malicious software] archive," created by Frame4 Security Services. Site. "Frame4 analysts gather samples using computers called honeypots, which are programmed to attract and misdirect malware, and by soliciting donations from antivirus researchers and cybersecurity experts. […] MD:Pro has been growing by more than a million samples a month." Pacella.

7. OkTrends [blog], "original research and insights from OkCupid." "OkCupid is the biggest free dating site in the U.S.; since we went online in 2004, we’ve collected an enormous amount of data on human interactions. This blog was started in July 2009 as a way to share some of the things we’ve learned about people." "About OkTrends," OkTrends.

8. Sloan Digital Sky Survey, "a major multi-filter imaging and spectroscopic redshift survey." Wikipedia. A redshift survey calculates the distance of objects from Earth. Wikipedia. The SDDS has surveyed over 35% of the sky.

9. The Wayback Machine, "a digital time capsule created by the Internet  Archive  [… that] enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time." Wikipedia.

10. WorldCat, "a union catalog which itemizes the collections of 71,000 libraries in 112 countries." Wikipedia.