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Making the most of your data: Duke Data & GIS Services
Angela Zoss Data Visualization Coordinator
November 20, 2013
http://library.duke.edu/data
Data & GIS Services
• Perkins 226 computing cluster
• Walk-in consultations
• Data collections
• Workshops
• Online instructional materials
Brandaleone Family Center for Data and GIS Services • Perkins 226 • Open whenever the library
is open • 12 high-powered Dell
workstations • 3 Bloomberg financial
workstations • Various data analysis, GIS,
and visualization software packages available
http://library.duke.edu/data/about/lab.html
Walk-in Consulting
…or by appointment: [email protected]
http://library.duke.edu/data/about/schedule.html
Workshops
• Typically toward the beginning of the semester • 1-2 hours, often hands-on • Various topics, including Data Processing/Statistical
Software Packages, GIS/Mapping, Visualization http://library.duke.edu/data/news
For announcements, sign up for our listserv: https://lists.duke.edu/sympa/subscribe/dgs-announce Or watch our blog and twitter accounts: http://blogs.library.duke.edu/data/, @duke_data, @duke_vis
SUPPORT AREAS
Support Area: Finding Data
• Browse our curated collections list at: http://library.duke.edu/data/collections/ (includes data sets specially licensed for Duke)
• Email [email protected] and we’ll do some research for you!
• Guides for special types of data – Census
http://guides.library.duke.edu/content.php?pid=32369 – Housing
http://library.duke.edu/data/courses/housing_foreclosures.html – Comtrade
http://guides.library.duke.edu/comtrade
Support Area: Storing Data
• Newest support area • Storage & Compute Environments Comparison:
http://goo.gl/fGflCB
Support Area: Managing Data
• Data Management Guide: http://library.duke.edu/data/guides/data-management/index.html
• DMP Tool @ Duke: http://blogs.library.duke.edu/data/2013/07/12/data-management-planning-advice-dmptool-duke/
Support Area: Analyzing Data
• Available data analysis software packages: – Open Refine (also offer a workshop) – R (also offer a workshop) – Stata (also offer a workshop) – SAS – SPSS
• Additional workshop on text analysis techniques • Walk-in consulting for real-time support
http://library.duke.edu/data/guides/
http://guides.library.duke.edu/datavis/
Support Area: Visualizing Data
Support Area: Visualizing Data
• GIS (Geographic Information Systems) support – Workshops on ArcGIS and other online mapping tools – High powered computers with GIS software – Expert help from Data & GIS Staff
• Visualization support, more broadly – Workshops on Tableau Public and best practices for
charts, graphs, posters, etc.
DATA TIPS See especially: https://github.com/veltman/learninglunches/tree/master/datahygiene
Data Tips: Make a Copy
• Never process the only copy of your data • Keep backups – onsite and offsite
Data Tips: Take Note
• Keep track of the processing steps you’ve taken • If possible, use tools that have commands or scripts • Document the reasons behind your decisions
Data Tips: Check Your Sources
• Garbage in, garbage out • Level of analysis
Data Tips: Easy Come, Easy Go
• Be wary of Excel – Volatile (easy to accidentally introduce errors) – Deceptively opaque – Limited validation capabilities – Better for simple data structures
• Tips – Save often, multiple copies – Document processing steps (manually if necessary) – Introduction some validation checks (formulas,
visualizations) – Switch to database?
Visualization Tips
In a nutshell: Simplify (but not the axis) • Reduce color • Focus on major trends • Consistent style/format/reference system
• Do extra calculations so the users won’t have to
http://guides.library.duke.edu/topten
SHAMELESS PLUG
2014 Student Data Visualization Contest http://bit.ly/viscontest14 | http://bit.ly/visgallery
• Open to all Duke students • Submit any type of
visualization • Deadline January 19 • 2014 Awards:
– Amazon gift cards (up to $250) – public exhibits – posters
QUESTIONS? SUGGESTIONS? [email protected] http://twitter.com/duke_vis
