This is my first post, and I will be using it to write about something I’ve been working on, some skills I’ve been trying to gain, other skills I’ve been trying to refine, all centering around one thing: data. Mind-blowing, right? It’s like no one is even talking about data these days. Ok, I know, so let’s refine and personalize this a bit further.
In the Dark Time after my graduation – hat tip to Colt 45 in the 40 ounce glass bottles – I worked for a large technology company. There, I picked up some computer skills, mostly dealing with networking. Just a solid, generalized base to work from. I know what computers are, more or less how they work, how to build and repair them, and how they prefer to talk to one another.
Now imagine if you will, David Brent slowly lacing his fingers together while biting this lip. The left hand represents my love of history and anthropology, and the right my (often reluctant) experience with technology.
And the union? Again, data. We all know there’s lots of it, and we all know that computers love the stuff. But for me, datasets grant a way to explore questions I care about and appeal to my preference for primary source material, I just have to learn how to use them properly. The best part, of course, is that the internet is full of free resources to learn these skills. I’ll get to that in a moment.
First, a brief aside. Although the uses are endless, this stuff is exciting to me because data sets, public data, public documents – all of it, really – can renew the legitimacy and rigor of fields like journalism and international development. To state a blunt opinion, in our time I believe the majority of public discourse and language is disingenuous and ultimately self-serving, if not serving the speaker directly, serving the power structures they may represent. I am reminded of a quote from Susan Sontag, and I hope I am not twisting its meaning: “As the prestige of language falls, that of silence rises.” (A Susan Sontag Reader (New York, 1982) p. 195) Reliable data can be a form of silence – it’s transparent, it’s available, and anyone can assess it on their own. Now, it may seem strange to group journalism and international development, but I believe they can derive the same benefits from the transparent, well-documented use of data sets – as in, here are the conclusions we’ve drawn from the information we have, here is the data we’ve used, here are the steps we took to analyze that data. If we’re wrong, use these resources to show us why.
As for working with data, we all know computers can do it, but it’s a matter of bridging the gap between what you want the computer to do, and how to tell the computer how to do it. These resources should help. Also, if my points or thoughts are still vague or shoddily put together, recall I’m returning to writing after a long hiatus. Bear with me. Also, quick shout out to – I attended a talk by one of their employees, and that’s where I learned of these resources.
1. Google Fusion Tables and Spreadsheets. Fusion Table help here.
2. Tabula. Wonderful tool to extract data from uncooperative PDF files.
3. Datawrapper.Open source tool to create robust, visually clean, embeddable charts.
4. School of Data Courses. These are fantastic. Tons of modules divided into 6 courses. Each one I’ve completed so far has been very helpful.
5. The Data Journalism Handbook. It’s free. Why not?
6. Tableau Public. I haven’t messed about with it yet, but I hear good things.
7. Internews’ Datadredger. A ton of information, maps, visualizations, and stories utilizing data.
So, that’s a start. I’ll be working through these resources over the next few months. Also, I’ve compiled a decent list of data sources, so I’ll put together a post with links once I have them all together. Enjoy.
Oh, and image source for the grainy Mr. David Brent above.
Monk Saki 
