Class: Managing Experiment Data Using Excel and Friends: Digging Out from Under the Avalanche

Large data sets can be summarized easily and automatically for visual inspection using simple Excel functions, yet most people have never heard of these. Similarly, tools such as MS Query (part of the Excel suite) can provide a simple mechanism to query data from databases such as the Mouse Genome Database, obviating the need to somehow extract voluminous data from Web pages and enabling queries otherwise not possible using the Web interface.

If you're feeling like Excel can't handle your data, you may have reached the point where you should be using low-cost desktop databases such as MS Access and FileMaker. At the cost of a bit of familiarization, these tools will provide a quantum leap. In this class, we'll go over what can be done easily and rapidly with such common office software to help you tame the data demon. Note that the class will be held using Windows XP.

Duration: 2 hours

Format: Part lecture (45 min), hands-on exercises and question-and-answers. Please bring an example data set from your work in Excel format to illustrate your questions.

Version 1: Class given 5/16/2006 - includes discussion of MS Access: slides ().

Version 2: Class given 6/1/2006 - omits discussion of MS Access, spends more time on Excel: slides ().

Other resources

• All Lane MS Excel resources.
• All Lane MS Access resources.

Source

Lane Librarian

Record created 7/28/2006.

ypouliot, September 24, 2009