Welcome to the Datablog

We are drowning in information. The web has given us access to data we would never have found before, from specialist datasets to macroeconomic minutiae. But, look for the simplest fact or statistic and Google will present a million contradictory ones. Where's the best place to start?

That's how this blog came about. Everyday we work with datasets from around the world. We have had to check this data and make sure it's the best we can get, from the most credible sources. But then it lives for the moment of the paper's publication and afterward disappears into a hard drive, rarely to emerge again before updating a year later.

So, together with its companion site, the Data Store – a directory of all the stats we post – we are opening up that data for everyone. Whenever we come across something interesting or relevant or useful, we'll post it up here and let you know what we're planning to do with it.

Rather than uploading spreadsheets onto our server, for now we are using Google Docs. This means we can update the facts easily and quickly, which makes sure you get the latest stats, as we get them.

We want to know what you think, what great data visualisations you've seen (or produced) and what you want to know. This is a place to discuss data and what we can do with it.

It is not comprehensive – there will always be things we've missed – but we want you to help us with that, by posting your requests to see if anyone out there knows how to find it. Above all, this is selective. It is information that we find interesting and curious. In the future, we will add visualisation apps and tips and hits for mashing up the data. Let us know what you think – and what you want to know.

Can you do something with our data? Please post us your visualisations and mash-ups below or mail us at datastore@theguardian.com