Embedded Files
Spreadsheets are one of the most common ways we use to organize our data. But they can be more than just a bunch of numbers in columns - you can use online spreadsheets to calculate values, create charts and maps, link to forms, embed in your website, you can add photos and videos to cells, and do a whole host of useful, collaboratives things to work with your colleagues and engage your community.
Spreadsheets are not the same as databases. A database like the Brownfields Inventory Tool (BiT) is more complex - you can think of it as having a lot of linkages between the cells so that you can pull up information and combine things from different parts of the database in useful ways. It is kind of like comparing a 2 dimensional (spreadsheet) to a 3 dimensional (database) framework for your data. A database like BiT allows you to store files, organize many pages of information, create reports, organize multiple sites within a program, export to EPA's ACRES database, and much more.
Keeping in mind that some of the things we might want to do will be more appropriate for a database (covered in another section) we can explore the different things we can do using an online spreadsheet program like Google Sheets.
Google Sheets are a very easy way to create charts - the chart editor is much easier to use than Excel. One particular advantage is that it is easy to collaborate on charts created using Google Sheets, and they can be embedded in a website in a way that is dynamic (they update when you change them in the sheet) and interactive.
This is an embedded "published" version of the graph that is fully interactive. Scroll over the bars to see the numbers. On more complex graphs there will be more interactivity.
A very useful way to populate a Google Sheet is through the use of Google Forms. You can create a Form and link it to a Response Sheet, then use it for data entry in your office or to collect information from your community. It is easy to embed a Form in your website (see below) or to email it to people who you want to contact.
Hands on activities
Hands on activities
Download the spreadsheet by clicking on the file to the right to open it, then click File>Download>Comma Separated Values (.csv). If you need help see the image below. Remember where you saved the file on your laptop.
Go to Google Drive and Create a folder and give it a name. You can use this folder to store all your work.
Click New>File Upload and choose the CSV file from your laptop to upload.
Open the file as a Google Sheet.
Try sorting columns and clicking on the links to explore the spreadsheet.
Try adding a column, using autofill and other tools to add content.
This file was downloaded from Cleanups In My Community
Create a Chart
Create a Chart
Using the Oneida Nation Brownfields spreadsheet (or preferably, a spreadsheet of your own data) create a chart. Edit the chart to find the best chart style Click Here for help with choosing chart styles
Edit the axes, title and other aspects of the chart to make it easy to understand. Write a plain language explanation of what the most important results are, this should be written in the type of language you would use in a public record or presentation to your community.
Download the chart in a format that you could use for a report.
Create a survey using Google Forms
Create a survey using Google Forms
1. Using the project folder you created in Activity #1 create a new form in your folder. Give it a name.
3. Add questions; try creating different types of questions, like a short answer and a multiple choice question.
4. Add a question that has a location (city and province, for example).
5. Style your form using different color schemes and images for the header.
6. Create a spreadsheet for the responses (this should appear in the same Google Drive folder as your form).
7. Send the the form through email to a colleague and ask them to fill it out and submit it.
8. Take a look at the response spreadsheet and see what the columns and answers look like. What kind of information did you get?
9. How might you use a Form and Response Sheet in your own work?
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