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This walkthrough shows the public Atlas experience: search a place and issue, open a result, inspect sources, and decide what you can safely do with what you found. You do not need an account. Atlas browse screen showing search, issue filters, source filters, a map, and source-backed result cards.

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The question

Imagine you want to understand who is working on housing in Detroit. You are not trying to download a dataset yet. You need a small set of credible leads and enough source context to know whether each lead is worth opening.

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1. Open Browse

Go to atlas.rebuildingus.org/browse. Start with the search box. Try:
If the result set is too narrow, search for:
Then use issue filters to narrow the list.

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2. Filter for the issue

Open the Issues filter and choose housing-related tags such as Housing Affordability or Homelessness and Housing Insecurity. The goal is not to make the list huge. The goal is to create a reviewable set of profiles where the issue, place, and source evidence all line up.

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3. Scan the result cards

Each result card should help you decide whether to open the profile:

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4. Open a profile

Open a promising result, such as a housing organizer or tenant group. On the profile, look for:
  • A short description of the work.
  • Place and issue tags.
  • Source count and freshness.
  • Source titles, publishers, dates, URLs, and excerpts.
  • Related actors or issue areas.
Atlas people directory showing profile cards with issue tags, source counts, locations, and updated dates.

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5. Read the sources before acting

This is the most important step. A profile is useful because you can inspect the public evidence behind it. Ask:
  • Does the source actually mention the person or organization?
  • Does the source connect them to Detroit, housing, or the issue I searched?
  • Is the source recent?
  • Is the record supported by more than one independent source?
  • Is the source strong enough for the action I am about to take?
If you are only making a research list, one source may be enough. If you plan to publish, fund, contact, or brief a team, open the sources and verify the specific claim you plan to rely on.

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6. Decide what comes next

Public users can:
  • Search and browse profiles.
  • Open source-linked records.
  • Filter by place, issue, actor type, and source type.
  • Flag records that appear incorrect or stale.
  • Use the public API within the free request limit.
Signed-in workspace users can also save actors to lists, build briefs, track coverage, watch for changes, run discovery, and export proof.

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If the result is thin

Thin results are still information. They may mean:
  • The issue is under-covered in public sources.
  • Atlas has not seen enough sources for that place and issue.
  • The relevant actors use different language than your search terms.
  • You need a broader place filter, a different issue tag, or a manual Scout run.
Try broadening to Michigan, searching for “tenant union”, or checking related issue areas. If you are working as a team, turn the missing evidence into a coverage gap.

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Next steps

Trust and provenance

Learn how to interpret source evidence, stale data, and partial records.

Build a team brief

Turn a public search into a source-linked workspace briefing.

Use the API

Find organizations working on transit in Nevada with the API.

Run Scout

Run local discovery and sync selected results to Atlas.