Tools of the trade: Spreadsheets and text editors

We are starting at the beginning, to the point of discussing copy and paste in class. But everyone confirmed they learned something they didn't previously know!

We start with Excel in the course because it is the tool you will start with for almost every project. If you don't master Excel, it is more difficult to progress.

This list includes what we covered in class, plus some other resources for you to save and use at your leisure. This lecture will continue on Monday.

• Handout: Excel Basics for Journalists (Links to an external site.)
• Data: In-class data (Links to an external site.) for download
• Data: Turnover data (Links to an external site.) for Google Spreadsheets
• Handout: Text editor recommendations (Links to an external site.)
• Handout: Common Excel formulas (Links to an external site.)
• Handout: Kinda crazy Excel formulas (Links to an external site.)
• Handout: Mary Jo Webster's Excel tricks (Links to an external site.)
• Data: Mary Jo's practice data (Links to an external site.)
• Book: Paul Bradshaw's Finding Stories in Spreadsheets (Links to an external site.)

Categories: Lecture notes, Spring 2015

What is data visualization? More than you think.

I'm gonna differ from others in the "industry" here, I think ...  considered simplistic, or too focused on entry-level. Well, good. Data visualization should be entry-level. Don't get me wrong ... I love what D3 can do and bow down to Mike Bostock, but what I want to help you do is find and tell stories.

I use data visualization first to FIND stories, then to TELL stories. There you go, in a nutshell.

• Lecture slides (Links to an external site.)
• If we don't cover Paul Bradshaw's Inverted Pyramid of Data Journalism (Links to an external site.) and my extension (Links to an external site.) of it, consider it homework

Categories: Lecture notes, Spring 2015