The “Los Angeles Research Collection” empowers citizens and researchers with easy-to-use tools of interactive mapping.  HyperCities allows users to explore the social and political conditions across the spaces and historical time of the Los Angeles metropolis on any web browser in every school, community center, government office, home, and academic setting, allowing citizens to create their own collections of mappable knowledge and cultural heritage available within the context of the scholar-produced research data.

A centerpiece of the Los Angeles Research Collection is the “Pdub” Collections of materials from Historic Filipinotown. Built by the Pilipino Worker’s Center (PWC), a community service organization serving LA’s Historic Filipinotown (“Hi Fi”), and Public Matters, a public history design and production partnership,  PWC’s “Pdub Productions” is an innovative project using new media as a way to connect with, explore and promote Hi Fi’s rich history and culture.

Social Scientists have contributed several important datasets as seed-beds for the planned growth of the Los Angeles Research Collections.  One is the Los Angeles County Union Census Tract Data Series, 1940-2000 (Los Angeles: University of Southern California, 2000-2006), created under the leadership of Philip Ethington and Dowell Myers, and consisting of 438 variables, for the years 1940-2000.  The Voting and Demographic Data for the 2001 and 2005 Mayoral Elections in the City of Los Angeles, contributed by Mark Drayse and Raphael Sonenshein of CSU Fullerton, was funded by the Russell Sage Foundation; The Annual Immigration Data Aggregated to ZIP Code level data set was assembled by Ali Modarres of CSU Los Angeles.  HyperCities supplies the connective links between these separate collections and allows researchers, scholars, and community groups to access and utilize these data through a common online platform.