What Is DASL and What Can You Find in the DASL Archive?

Updated

DASL is The Data And Story Library, an archive of real-world datasets hosted by Data Description Inc. You can use it to find real data organized for teaching and learning statistics: search by statistical display or method, by text match, or by title, and access hundreds of free datasets. It remains available even though Data Description has stopped selling and supporting its Data Desk software.

What DASL actually is

DASL stands for The Data And Story Library. According to Data Description, it is "an archive of real data from a wide variety of topics in a searchable format." The company describes it as "the perfect teaching/learning aide for any level of statistics learning."

Two things define it:

  • Real data, not simulated examples. The datasets come from actual topics rather than textbook-generated numbers.
  • Searchable by statistical purpose. You are not limited to browsing by subject name.

Data Description states it is the creator and host of DASL and will continue to host the archive going forward.

What you can find and how you can search

The archive is built around connecting a statistical method to a concrete example. Data Description's stated goal is that "a good example can turn what might have been a dry lesson into a vivid and relevant one."

You can locate datafiles in three ways:

Search method What it means in practice
By statistics display or method Find a dataset suited to a specific technique you are teaching or studying
By text match Search using words related to the topic or variable
By title Go directly to a dataset whose name you already know

The archive contains hundreds of free datasets, and instructors can use them to illustrate each statistics method.

Who it is for

DASL is positioned for anyone learning or teaching statistics, at any level. The most direct fit is:

  • Instructors looking for real-world examples to illustrate a method.
  • Students who want to practice a technique on genuine data instead of a toy example.
  • Self-learners who need a dataset that matches a specific statistical display or method.

The context you should know

Data Description has initiated dissolution after 40 years. All sales, trial downloads, and upgrades have ceased. That affects the Data Desk software, not DASL: the company says it will continue to host the DASL archive.

The site also notes that Data Desk users could work with R and Python through its RP features, using the Data Desk interface as a graphical front end to R. That is a historical capability of a product no longer sold, not a current DASL feature.

Practical starting point

If you want to use DASL, go to the DASL section of datadescription.com and search by the statistical method or display you are working with, or by a text term tied to your topic. If you already know a dataset's title, search by title instead. The site also provides a contact form for questions, with a stated intent to reply in a timely manner.