Searching for Data on the Defra Data Services Platform (DSP)

Created: 31 October 2023 Updated: 08 May 2024

There are two ways to search on the Defra Data Services Platform: 

• Data Search: This searches the records for data on the DSP. 

• Full Site Search: This searches across all DSP site content. 

Data Search

The DSP contains records for data held by the Animal and Plant Health Agency, CEFAS, core Defra, the Environment Agency, the Forestry Commission, Marine Management Organisation, Natural England and the Rural Payments Agency*. 

To search from the DSP homepage simply enter a search term in the main Search box and press the Enter key or click on the green magnifying glass icon for a basic search. Alternatively, click on ‘Advanced Search’ to access additional search functionality immediately. 

*Please note for best results, Defra users should register for an account and log in on the Defra DSP.

Once you have submitted a search you will see the results displayed as per the screen shot below: 

You can optionally filter and sort the returned results to help find what you are looking for. The filters are on the left-hand side and currently include: 

●     Organisation: The organisation which publishes the dataset, for example:  APHA, Defra, etc.

●     Search Type: This allows you to search either ‘All’ which will parse the whole metadata record or ‘Title’ to search solely by dataset title.

●     Data Type: This allows you to choose between ‘Spatial’ and ‘Non-spatial’ datasets.

●     Service Type: This allows you to filter for datasets which have a specific data service or resource type available e.g. File Download, WMS or REST API.

●     Data format: This allows you to filter for datasets which have a resource available in a specific data format e.g. CSV file or Shapefile.

●     Licence: This allows you to search for specific wording within the ‘Licence’ section of the metadata. This can be used to search for data available under a specific licence e.g. ‘Open Government Licence’ or for data which has specific attribution or third-party rights e.g. ‘Ordnance Survey’. Once you have written your search term please select it from the dropdown list.

●     Keywords: This allows you to refine your initial search by specifying one or more additional keywords to apply – only matches from the ‘keyword’ section of the metadata record will be returned.

Once you have applied your filters you can re-run your search to get the refined results by clicking on ‘Filter results’ or ‘Refresh’.

You can also sort your results in various ways and select how many results you would like to see returned on the page. Sorts currently available are:

●     Best match (default)

●     Title (A-Z)

●     Title (Z-A)

●     Data Updated (Revision Date)

●     Metadata Updated (which indicates when the metadata was last updated).

Additionally, an option is provided to ‘Include Retired & Archived Records’. Selecting this option will ensure that datasets that have been Retired (No longer Available) or Archived (No Longer Updated) are also added to your results.

You can open a record to find out more information about the dataset by clicking on the record title. You will then be presented with the dataset metadata view:

Note that this screen also suggests ‘Related datasets’ to the dataset which you are currently viewing.

To understand the information shown against datasets on the DSP please see our dataset metadata guidance.

Full Site Search

To search across all site content on the Defra Data Services Platform click on the magnifying glass icon at the right-hand end of the top page banner.

The full site search allows you to search all types of content on the Defra Data Services Platform site including Announcements, FAQs, Datasets, Apps and APIs. Your search results can be filtered by content type: