Help

For assistance locating information or using features on the Open Data Portal site, use the links below:

Accessibility
File Types
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How to Use RSS

Accessibility

While every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accessibility of this site, some content or services may be inaccessible to some visitors. In these circumstances, contact us.

File Types

Open Data formats are in the public domain and are non-proprietary. These formats are not encumbered by copyright, patent, trademark, or other restrictions. Data can also be presented in formats such as XLS that can be read using spreadsheet software and that permit data extraction to facilitate integration with other data sets. The file types recommended for datasets published to the Open Data Portal are:

• CSV (Comma-separated Values): A text format for database tables. Field values are separated by commas. TXT (Text): A file that contains plain text and that can be read by any program that reads text, such as a basic text editor.
• GeoTIFF (Geographic Tagged Image File Format): A public domain metadata standard for embedding georeferencing information within a TIFF file.
• KML (Keyhole Markup Language): XML format for modeling and storing geographic features for display in Google Earth. KMZ refers to KML files compressed into a .ZIP file.
• RDF (Resource Description Framework): XML format for modeling and exchanging metadata information for Web resources.
• RSS (Real Simple Syndication): XML format for syndicating Web content such as news headlines and blog postings. GeoRSS is used to add geographic information to existing RSS feeds.
• SHP (Shapefile): A geospatial vector data format for geographic information systems (GIS) software.
• XML (Extensible Markup Language): Data format that uses custom tags to define objects and the data associated with each object. XML files are formatted as text documents and can be edited using a basic text editor.

Use the Internet to locate software for viewing or using data in the formats listed above.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

For additional information on using the Open Data Portal site, see Frequently Asked Questions.

How to Use RSS

RSS (Real Simple Syndication) is a format for publishing updates to Website content. Updates are delivered through RSS feeds. To subscribe to an RSS feed:

• See if your Web browser supports RSS feeds. If so, click on the RSS link for the feed. If not, subscribe to a free RSS reader or purchase one.
• Copy and paste the URL of the feed into the reader and save.

A typical RSS update includes a headline and a small amount of text.

To cancel updates, delete the feed or URL from your RSS feed reader.