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Data Visualization

Learn about best practices and tools to visualize data using charts and maps.

Tableau is data visualization software (aka Business Intelligence, Analytics). It enables fast creation of static or interactive InfoGraphics, including charts and maps. It is designed for large businesses, with pricing per user per month.

See this page in two guides:

Access to Tableau

Tableau Desktop / Prep

  • Tableau offers a FREE Academic license (teaching and learning only) for students and teaching faculty 
  • Data & Digital Scholarship Services computers in Fenwick Library (Academic License). Note: we don't give out licenses. Students and faculty should follow the link above for requesting an academic license.
  • 30-day free trial.

Tableau Public

  • Tableau Public is FREE for everybody.
  • Can only use data from files or a web data connector (up to 15 mil rows/workbook)
  • Data and Visualizations must be saved/published online (max 10 GB)
    • Can prevent the data and/or workbook file from being downloaded
    • Can hide a visualization so it does not appear on your profile or in the search
    • These do not make the data or visualization entirely private. 

Virtual Workshop

Learn Tableau in 1 hour

For Videos from Tableau, you may be asked to fill out a form. Creating an account to sign in does require verifying your email address, but completing the form does not. 

Topic Video
Overviews

Migrating your data from Excel ( ~6 min) - LinkedIn Learning

Tour the Tableau Interface ( ~5 min) - Tableau
Principles

Visual Encodings: An (extremely short) introduction (~4 min) - Gonzalo Gabriel Mendeez Cobena

Getting Started with Visual Analytics/Build a Visualization  (~6 min) - Tableau 
       Covers Marks and Level of Detail, Uses this Exercise Workbook. 

Using colors to highlight data (~5.5 min) - LinkedIn Learning
Terminology

Dimensions vs Measures, Discrete vs. Continuous  (~6 min) Sprightpath

Measure Names and Measure Values (~5 min) - Sprightpath
Tasks

Filtering (~2.5 min) - Tableau

Grouping (~4 min)  - Tableau

Creating a Basic Calculated Field in Tableau - (~3 min) - Tableau in Two Minutes/Penguin Analytics
Saving & Sharing

Build a Dashboard (~6 min) - Tableau

Create a packaged workbook (~2 min) - LinkedIn Learning

Exporting visualization to PowerPoint (~3 min) - LinkedIn Learning

Learning

Resources from Tableau

Tableau Zen Masters

Look for material written by a Tableau Zen Master, who have been selected based off knowledge and teaching. See Especially those by the Hall of Fame Zen Masters. For example: 

Learn More

Learn by Example

The best way to learn Tableau is to utilize or re-create what other people have done. You can often download the workbooks for visualizations you see. Don't forget that some worksheets might be hidden. These sites have downloadable workbooks (look in the bottom right for the download icon (square with down arrow) and choose "Tableau Workbook". Note that .twbx files include the workbook (.twb) plus the data.

Data Sources

Get Web Connectors for Direct Import of Data:

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