Collections as Data

A portal to Williams Libraries collections as datasets. Explore pre-packaged data or request bespoke datasets for your research.

Collections, use, and activity data

Types of Data Available by Request

We can often provide datasets containing metadata describing our collections including:

  • Topical data such as subject headings or (for physical collections only) call numbers
  • Dates of publication
  • Names of authors and contributors
  • Usage (total number of checkouts for physical collections)

In some cases, we can provide some data on usage of our electronic collections, such as JSTOR.

Typically these are provided in CSV format with each row representing either a different title or a different physical copy. If you require the data structured in a different manner, we can discuss your research needs to see if they can be accommodated.

Example Data

As an example dataset to explore, we have provided a set describing usage of our physical general collections along with year of publication, year of usage, and current location in the libraries.

Dataset package, including .csv, JSON file, and documentation

Special Collections

Theses Collection

Access to data from our theses collections is available by request. Possible datasets might be data based on academic department or txt files of the publicly available theses corpus.  If you are interested in a particular dataset from our collections, please see the Request Data tab. 

As an example of the kinds of data available, we have made the metadata for every Economics thesis available as a .csv file.

Digital Collections and College Archives

Researchers may request access to data in our digital collections that are without access and use restrictions. By request, we package up the digital objects, by creating csv, txt, and xml files for research use. If you are interested in a particular dataset from our collections, please see the Request Data tab in the side navigation menu.

From our databases

A reminder about policies, licenses, and terms of use

Please remember to check the platform's terms of use and data mining policies before downloading.