Haystax
Point-and-click data collection for everybody
Getting public data from the Web shouldn't be hard -- it belongs to you, after all. With Haystax, an open-source bookmarklet initially developed at NewsHack Day in San Francisco, collecting information from online sources is as easy as tapping a few keys. No coding. No cost. No problem.
Drag this to your bookmarks bar to install the bookmarklet: Haystax Extractor
The Problem
Needlebase, an effective Web scraper popular among data journalists, was officially retired June 1. With the need for a user-friendly way to mine online databases greater than ever, is there anything well suited to take its place?
Our Solution
With Haystax, it's easy to collect information from online databases and tables.
- Drag the Haystax bookmarklet to your browser’s toolbar and navigate to the table you want to scrape.
- Click the bookmarklet.
- Hover over the table you want to scrape with your cursor and press “T” on the keyboard to identify the table.
- Hover over the “Next” button on the page with your cursor and press “P” on your keyboard to tell the program how to navigate through the pages.
- Press “S” on the keyboard to scrape.
- Download the data as a CSV file when it’s done.
Your Opportunity
Haystax 0.5 can only handle some databases. But we hope developers will collaborate on the open source and expand its functionality. With time, everyone will be able to access, scrape and use public data freely and easily, no matter how complex the obstacle.