September 7, 2026 — September 13, 2026
Changing forests, ancient waterways, and the records in between
Five additions take us from Canada's changing landscapes to Northern Ireland's old water routes, with a closer look at healthcare and the businesses shaping places today.
A forest can change almost unnoticed. An old boat can suggest a route that no longer appears on a map. This week's five additions offer different ways to follow change: across landscapes, through healthcare, and in the paperwork that records who gets to do what, and where.
01 / Natural Resources Canada
Watch a landscape change over forty years
Canada · annual maps, 1985–2025 · 30-metre squares
These maps describe how much of each patch of land is covered by trees, shrubs, water, burn scars, and other surfaces. Looking across the years lets you follow a place through more than a single satellite snapshot.
Why it's worth exploring
You could start with a familiar forest and ask what grew back after a fire, or where shrubs became more common. The maps help you find changes worth investigating; explaining them takes local knowledge and other evidence. They describe surface cover, not how much carbon a forest stores.
SCANFI v3 Canadian Fractional Landcover02 / Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership / NATCAN
Does the path through cancer care look the same everywhere?
England and Wales · 2026 audit edition · lymphoma-care tables
A national audit asks whether care for people with non-Hodgkin lymphoma follows recommended practice. Its downloadable tables sit alongside a report explaining how the comparisons were made. The report year is not necessarily the year patients received care.
Why it's worth exploring
For a story, begin with a step in the care journey and ask how it varies between places. That can open a useful conversation about access and services. Differences in patients, missing records, and small groups matter, so a comparison should lead to questions rather than a simple hospital league table.
National Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Audit 202603 / Historic Environment Division / OpenDataNI
Follow the boats back to the old waterways
Northern Ireland · historic logboat findspots · downloadable map data
A logboat is a boat made from a hollowed-out tree trunk. This record maps places where they have been found, drawing on both field checks and older accounts. Some locations are precise; others are known only to a lake, river, or local area.
Why it's worth exploring
Put the finds beside waterways and older settlements and a question starts to form: how might people have moved before today's road network? It's an invitation to explore with archaeological context, rather than proof of a route. Keep the approximate locations visibly approximate.
Northern Ireland Logboat Record04 / Health Canada
An industry's story, told through its licences
Canada · five files · 2025 applications and year-end licence snapshots
Health Canada records applications and licences for cultivation, processing, and medical sales. The files include province, licence type, issue date, and status, with separate information on self-identified Indigenous applicants and licence holders. The catalog lists quarterly updates; these are snapshots, not a live feed.
Why it's worth exploring
You could compare which kinds of businesses hold licences in different provinces, then ask what local conditions might explain the pattern. A licence isn't a measure of sales or success, and an inactive licence doesn't tell the whole story of a business. The records offer a starting point for finding those stories.
Canada Commercial Cannabis Licences05 / Queensland Government / MyMinesOnline
Where mining rights meet local life
Queensland, Australia · granted mining claims · administrative records
This register lists granted mining claims in Queensland. The publisher releases reports when the relevant period has data to report, so a missing period can mean there were no changes. A granted claim does not by itself tell you that mining is taking place.
Why it's worth exploring
With suitable location information, these records could be compared with nearby towns or waterways to explore how resource interests fit into a place. Start by checking what each claim allows, and then look for local voices. The paperwork describes rights; a story can ask what they mean on the ground.
Queensland Granted Mining ClaimsIf you're looking for a place to start, choose a landscape or community you know. Ask what these records make visible—and what else you would need to understand the people behind them.
These reports cover additions to our library, not necessarily newly published data. Check the dataset notes and official sources for coverage dates, licensing, and limits on use.