This document provides a 10 step guide for uploading datasets to data.cookcountyil.gov. It describes what types of datasets to upload, how to prepare the data by formatting files as CSV, XLS or XLSX, how to log in and upload the files, set import rules and metadata, preview and publish the dataset, and how to later update it by appending or replacing new data. The goal is to share meaningful county department performance data with the public in a consistent format.

1. The 10 Basics
of Uploading Datasets to
data.cookcountyil.gov
A step-by-step guide

2. Step 1: What to Post
We want to post datasets that demonstrate the impact of your department to the
residents of Cook County.
This could include data on:
1. Output—transactations, customers served, services rendered and by area, $$$
collected and by area, permits, violations, etc
2. Historical information—one time upload
3. Performance measures—post a subset of PM data, activity summary for a
period of time; not to supersede performance management data
4. Anonymous statistical information based on licenses, permits, services, etc
5. Reports and studies—upload applicable reports and data from internal and
third-party studies
6. Mainframe reports and queries– The ME and Animal Control use reports and
queries generated from the mainframe

3. Step 2: Preparing your dataset
For our uses, Socrata accepts 3 types of files:
1. CSV or other tab-separated value
2. Excel XLS
3. Excel XLSX
What about formatting?

4. Step 2: Preparing your dataset
Formatting the dataset:
1. No images
2. No equations (csv), or be prepared to lose background equations (xls/x)
3. No blank rows or columns to separate data
4. One report per dataset
It is OK to keep some report formatting as seen above, but remember, for XLS/X files Socrata
will delete the formatting. If you upload a .csv file, the formatting will delete anyway.

5. Step 3: Login using your
username/password
Your username and password combination was emailed to you. Your username is your Cook
County email address, you can customize your password. Most of you will have the ability to
upload data, but not post.

6. Step 4: Uploading Data
Click “Create a New Dataset” Click “Import a Data File”
Click “On my Computer Click to Browse/Select a File

7. Step 5: Setting rules for import
1. Plain Text—cell information is text
2. Email– cell information is email
address
3. Web link/URL– cell info is a URL
4. Number—cell info is number with
commas
5. Money—cell info is in dollars and
cents
6. Percent—cell info is in percent form
7. Date & Time—cell info is date and
time, with time zone if selected
8. Location—to follow
Data Type Drop-downs
Headers
You can adjust for more
complex header information by
excluding rows

8. Step 6: Metadata, or data information
Dataset naming convention:
Date posted (mm/dd/yy)-Filename (employee-
enrollment-2007-present)-Department initials
(drm) or 071112-employee-enrollment-2007-
present-drm
Tags
A tag describes what the dataset is about.
For this dataset the tags would be “Risk
management,” “employee enrollment,”
“employee healthcare,” and “finance and
administration”
Licensing & Attribution and
Privacy
Set Licensing to “Public Domain.” Enter
contact person and department name
into “Data Provided.” Set Privacy to “My
Data is Public.”

9. Step 7: Success!

10. Step 8: Make some last-minute changes with
Working Copy
Working Copy allows you to see the dataset live, but before you make it public. When it’s
ready, click on the “Publish Dataset” button

11. Step 9: Use Append or Replace to update data
Once a dataset is public, it should only be updated, not changed. One big reason is that if a member of the public makes a map or
visualization with a dataset, it will no longer work if you change or delete it.
When it is time to update the dataset, there are 2 ways to do it: Append or Replace. “Append” adds new data to the end of the existing
dataset, ie adds “4, 5, 6” to the end of “1, 2, 3.” “Replace” is just that, it replaces the data in the dataset. Columns and rows must stay
the same for both.

12. Step 10: Still doesn’t look right? Delete and start again
Click the button to delete, and start again.