Spatial information is collected in many format for a range of purposes. Collecting data is the first step to creating a map. Below is a set of annotated links, which will direct you to websites where you can find some of this information. If you are seeking spatial information that is not listed, please contact us at librarygis@pobox.upenn.edu.
Examples include anything that takes place in physical and cyberspace, such as:
U.S. Census Bureau census data
https://data.census.gov/
U.S. Census Bureau TIGER Lines Shapefiles
https://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/geo/shapefiles/index.php
U.S. Street Network Shapefiles, Node/Edge Lists, and GraphML Files
https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/CUWWYJ
Microsoft's AI generated building footprints for North America
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/maps/building-footprints
Google's Open Buildings, AI generated building footprints for Africa
https://sites.research.google/open-buildings/
National Renewable Energy Laboratory geospatial data and tools
https://www.nrel.gov/research/data-tools.html
Creating Geographic Estimates with the IPUMS CPS Online Data Analysis System
https://atcoordinates.info/category/census-data/