Get Started with TDH Health Data

Welcome to the home of Tennessee's Public Health Data!

In this guide, you'll learn how to navigate the website, find and download data products, visualize and explore the data, and more with ease. Whether you are a public health practitioner, researcher, policymaker, or community member, we hope this guide helps you make the most of our data resources.
Let's dive in.


 

 Navigating the Data

 The 2-minute video below demonstrates how to navigate the catalog on this open data platform.


Quick Tips for Navigating the Data

To make the most of the TDH Health Data site, try these tips:
Search for datasets, topics, and keywords to quickly find what you need. The search bar is always located in the top right corner of the page, next to the bell icon. There is also a search bar above the list of filters if you're on the page that has the complete list of datasets. 

Utilize Filters

Categories: Categories are high-level groupings of datasets. They make it easy to find datasets by defining the broad domain of knowledge they represent. Clicking on a category will filter the catalog for all datasets with that category selected in the dataset metadata.
View Types: Clicking on one of these will filter the catalog with data of only that type.
Tags: Tags are more specific than categories and describe the content of a dataset. Clicking on a Tag will filter the catalog by all datasets tagged with that word. This section is populated with terms as they are tagged on Datasets in the metadata.

Sort

You can sort the catalog in a number of different ways:
  • Alphabetical: Sorted alphanumerically.
  • Most Relevant: This is generally associated with a search term, and is calculated based on a normalization of the number of views.
  • Most Accessed: This is sorted by the number of views each returned result has.
  • Recently Updated: Sorted by the most recently updated datasets. This also takes into account newly added datasets, as their most recent update is the date of upload.


The Primer Page

Once you click a dataset within the catalog, you will be taken to its "Primer" page, which contains all its metadata, a fancy word for "information about the data." The Primer page also includes:
  • Info Pane - At the top of the page you’ll find key metadata including the dataset title, description, the data provider, and the following fields:
    • Updated - This will use the most recently updated time of Date Last UpdatedMetadata Last Updated, and Date Created.
    • Date Last Updated - The most recent date of when the data was updated.
    • Metadata Last Updated - This will be updated when a working copy is published or when metadata edits are saved.
    • Date Created - This is the date when a dataset is published for the first time.
    • Downloads & Views - The number of times a dataset is visited or downloaded.
  • Featured Content - Find up to 3 featured visualizations, stories, or other content from around the web.  
  • About this Dataset - This section gives insight into when the data within the data was last updated, when the dataset's metadata was updated, and when the dataset was created.
  • What’s in this dataset? - Get a quick snapshot of the total rows, total columns, and what each row of data represents.
  • Preview Data Table -  View all the rows of the dataset, 10 at a time, right from the landing page.
NOTE: The preview data table will display a maximum of 65 columns. To view all the columns of a large dataset, click on 'View Data' which will open the exploration canvas view of the dataset.


Making the Most out of the Data

Previewing and Downloading Data

 It is possible to view all the rows of the dataset, 10 at a time, right from the Primer page. If you want to filter the dataset or view it more in-depth,
at the top of the dataset Primer page, click the View Data button. The dataset "exploration canvas" will open in your browser.
If you want to download the data, from the Primer page you can select Export to export to a number of different formats. You can refer to this article for more information on the different available export formats.

Visualizing Data

One of the more powerful features of the TDH Health Data Website is the ease with which anyone can take advantage of interactive data visualizations. *   From the landing page for a dataset, click on the Visualize button and select Create Visualization, and then follow this guide to create graphs, charts, and maps to understand trends more effectively. 
To better understand the terms used in the data, check out our Data Glossary
*Available only for select datasets.

Sharing Data

We encourage you to share the data with colleagues, researchers, or partners who might find it valuable! You can copy the URL to send the link to the specific dataset or use the "Share on Social Media" feature to generate a direct link for specific datasets or visualizations. This option will allow you to share the dataset or view it on Facebook, Twitter, or email.

Next Steps

  1. Leverage the downloaded data for research, analysis, grant applications, presentations, reports, and websites.
  2. Stay Updated: Subscribe to email alerts or RSS feeds for datasets that are of particular interest to you by selecting "Watch this Dataset" on its primer page.
  3. Start a conversation! If you have suggestions, or feedback, or encounter any issues with the platform, please let us know by filling out this short contact form. We look forward to hearing from you!

Additional Resources

  • These video guides produced by our vendor, Tyler, provide additional tutorials on how to use various tools on the health data website. You can find more videos like these here
  • Check out the Data & Insights Knowledge Base, your go-to resource for technical website questions. Although using the search bar within the support center will be the fastest way to find what you're looking for, the knowledge base is also organized by topics, such as:
  • Not sure what terminology to search in the Knowledge Base? Get to know our platform terminology with this glossary.

Please note that the TDH Open Data Platform is an ongoing initiative, and at present, it represents only a small subsection of the overall data from participating offices. We are committed to gradually expanding our data collection and incorporating additional divisions and offices from the Tennessee Department of Health over time.
We hope this "Getting Started" guide assists you in navigating the TDH Open Data Platform effectively. By harnessing the power of data, together, we can make informed decisions to protect and promote Tennessee's health.
If you have any questions or need further assistance, don't hesitate to reach out to our team. Happy exploring!