CONCORDIA’S OPEN DATA
Supporting innovation and bold experimentation by promoting the reuse of existing resources.
What is open data?
Open data is data that is freely available in a convenient and modifiable form for anyone to use and redistribute as they wish without restrictions from copyright, patents or other restraints.
Technology has allowed Concordia to collect large amounts of data and information on a variety of topics, which the university feels should be accessible to all. Concordia’s open data makes machine-readable data easy to access from a single point and free to reuse without copyright, patents or other restrictions.
Want to request a new dataset? Interested in submitting your own dataset? Contact help@concordia.ca
Get started:
- Make sure you’ve read and understood the Creative Commons Public License.
- Register to use the API and get a free developer key.
- If you prefer raw data, take a look at what’s available.
- Visit the documentation pages for examples and other resources.
See a bug? Report it at help@concordia.ca
About the project
Seeing a need within the Concordia community, Concordia Library began spearheading the creation of an open data application programming interface (API) as part of the R. Howard Webster Library Transformation Project technology program. As an opportunity for active and collaborative learning, the project scope was expanded to encompass the entire university.
Bringing together a cross-functional team with representatives from Instructional and Information Technology Services (IITS), Concordia Library and Enrolment Services, open data was created to provide a freely available, centralized catalogue of university-wide data.
The video footage at the top of this page is an example of the type of programs that can be created using open data. The open data team took one of the three.js library examples and added some logic to use the real-time library occupancy endpoint of our open data API as an input. The end result is a visualization where library patrons are represented as birds of a flock that’s constantly moving on the screen.
Frequently asked questions
The datasets found within Concordia’s open data are collected from numerous contributing faculties, departments, units and sectors across the university. New information is constantly being added as it is provided. If you wish to contribute or request a dataset, please contact help@concordia.ca.
Each dataset submitted undergoes a formal review process before going live on open data. Sensitive, personal and individualized information is stripped out prior to posting to ensure that all university confidentiality and privacy guidelines are respected.
Concordia’s open data consists of several different dataset categories: historical data, real-time data and general datasets. By its very nature, historical data will be updated less frequently than real-time data or general datasets. Each dataset is provided with an upload timestamp so users can easily identify when the information was updated.
Yes, according to the Creative Commons Public License, you are granted the right to reproduce and share the licensed material, in whole or in part, and produce, reproduce and share adapted material.
You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the licence, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests Concordia University endorses you or your use.
A cross-functional team with representatives from IITS, Concordia Library and Enrolment Services.
If you wish to obtain a dataset that isn’t currently in open data, please contact help@concordia.ca with your request.
Research data is not available through Concordia’s open data. However, you can find out more information about how Concordia is currently managing its research data by visiting the research data management guide or by contacting our Data Services librarian Alex Guindon.
If you need assistance, please contact help@concordia.ca.
