UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Beginning Sept. 20, the Research Informatics and Publishing department at Penn State University Libraries will offer six workshops on data visualization, including best practices for creating effective data visualizations and tools commonly used for analytics and visualization: Microsoft Power BI, ArcGIS, Tableau and R.
Participants will have the opportunity to apply techniques to examples, discover resources necessary to get started with the tools, and learn about additional resources available at the University Libraries for continued self-learning.
Workshops are free and open to Penn State undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, faculty and staff. No previous experience is required for introductory-level workshops; however, previous experience with R is recommended for the Data Visualization in R workshop.
All workshops will be held virtually via Zoom. Advance registration is required; registration and additional information is provided at the link for each session below.
If you need additional information, contact Research Informatics and Publishing at repub@psu.edu.
Workshop schedule
Introduction to Power BI – Sept. 20, 1–2:30 p.m.
This workshop will provide an overview of Power BI as one of the most popular data analytics and visualization tools on the market. The introductory session is designed to walk users through accessing the tool, using some common visual templates for data analysis and visualization, and sharing visualization online for collaboration, plus learning resources. No prior experience is required.
Power BI Data Gateway for Synchronization of Data and Visuals – Sept. 23 1–2:30 p.m.
This introductory session will provide participants with an overview of Data Gateway in Power BI and demos for synchronizing source data and visuals to improve work efficiency. Basic knowledge of Power BI will be helpful but not required.
Introduction to Maps in Power BI and ArcGIS – Sept. 30 1–2:30 p.m.
This session will focus on incorporating maps into your Power BI reports. You will discover mapping options included by default with Power BI as well as those available from Marketplace. Information will be provided on using the Penn State ArcGIS Online organizational account, analysis features within ArcGIS Maps visual for Power BI, and the use of additional data layers from ArcGIS Online. You will learn about maps in general as well as some tricks that might be helpful for building your maps in Power BI.
Introduction to Data Visualization with Tableau – Oct. 7 1–2:30 p.m.
If you have never used Tableau, this will be a great workshop for you. You will learn about the importance of data visualization and how to start working with Tableau. You will follow examples on how to connect to a dataset and how to create and share your first visualizations. You will also discover differences between Tableau Public and Tableau Desktop and learn about some of the great training resources available for you.
Introduction to Data Visualization using R – Oct. 14 1–3 p.m.
This workshop will provide an overview of how to make data visualizations in R using the package ggplot2. In this workshop you will learn how to: (1) create numerous types of plots using ggplot2, and (2) perfect plots iteratively using ggplot2. Some introductory knowledge of R will be helpful.
Data Visualization Best Practices – Oct. 21 1–2:30 p.m.
This workshop will provide an overview of best practices for transforming your data into effective visualizations.