Via Kris Kasianovitz – “Interview in Science Magazine with ICPSR’s Margaret Levenstein about the launch of ResearchDataGov. This is a portal for discovering and requesting access to *restricted microdata *from federal statistical agencies. Excerpt from the article – Accessing U.S. data for research just got easier New online portal streamlines requests for massive data sets at 16 federal agencies:

The U.S. government has just made it easier for social scientists to get their hands on federally collected data they need for research. Starting today, an online portal offers one-stop shopping to apply for access to protected data sets maintained by 16 federal agencies. Scientists can search the site to find the data set they want and then, with one click, file an application. The site also allows them to track the status of their request. “This will be transformational,” says economist Margaret Levenstein of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she manages the country’s largest curated social science data archive. “I work with thousands of researchers, and I know what they have to go through to find what they need and then get access to it.”