Queen’s University Library, in collaboration with the Canadian Opinion Research Archive (CORA) and the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL), is making CORA polling data freely available to the public via the Ontario Data Documentation, Extraction Service and Infrastructure (<odesi>) data portal, a component of OCUL’s Scholars Portal suite of data resources and tools.

As of Dec. 1, CORA data is available from the 1970s to the present, and tracks Canadian opinions over time on important topics such as Indigenous issues, healthcare, the environment, taxation, education, art and culture, satisfaction with government, and the most important problem facing Canadians.

“This is a wonderful initiative that will make CORA data more accessible to the various communities it serves, including students, faculty, government and think tank researchers, journalists, and more,” says Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant , Director of CORA and Associate Professor in the Department of Political Studies. “CORA is pleased to continue its longstanding and fruitful partnership with the Queen’s University Library, especially in enhancing data accessibility and openness.”

This change will allow the public to access the CORA data easily and encourages innovation and research.

Queen’s University Library has partnered with CORA since its inception in 1992 and CORA data has been discoverable through <odesi> since 2010. Now researchers will also be able to analyse and download the data directly.

“Queen’s University Library is pleased to extend our partnership with CORA to make available important Canadian public opinion data for research and teaching in Canada and beyond,” says Heather McMullen, Associate University Librarian. “This project aligns with other joint library initiatives within Queen’s to make scholarship and teaching materials more accessible and open.”  

“Improved discovery and access to these valuable polling data builds on our history of collaborative stewardship of data in Canada,” says Wayne Jones, University Librarian at Carleton University and incoming OCUL Chair. “OCUL is thrilled that Queen’s University is able to make these data more widely available to the public, ensuring broad access of our collections.”

To access this data, simply do a search on <odesi> via Scholars Portal.