Your new software toys are not much use without good, reliable data to use in them are they? Data is perhaps the most important component of any GIS work. The old adage of "Garbage in-Garbage out" is ever so true when it comes to spatial analysis and your new GIS program. There are many important tips when it comes to creating and managing your own data for use in a GIS and we will be providing pointers and guides in this section in the future. To begin with we have compiled some lists of great places to source data for your new GIS or to enhance your existing GIS efforts. Almost all of these resources are free, some contain data in spatial formats ready to be displayed in your GIS software, some need to be converted or linked to spatial data you already have. For advice on linking or spatializing your data have a look at our tutorials section here.

• Web distributed data (WMS/WFS)
• Government data
• Census data
• ESRI Basemaps