Tutorials
How do I design a better research poster?
How do I design a better virtual poster?
How do I design a better virtual presentation?
How do I use Tableau?
How do I make my visualizations accessible?
Books & eBooks
Below are some books and eBooks available in the library's collection. Click the book cover image or book title to be re-directed to the page to check that resource out.
Journalism
Below are some resources for data visualization in news and journalism.
- Check out Storybench from Northeastern University's School of Journalism.
- Consider joining the NICAR-L mailing list for data journalists.
The list is run by the National Institute for Computer Assisted Reporting (NICAR), a project run by the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) organization. You can learn more about NICAR and IRE here. NICAR also offers training resources through its NICAR-LEARN program. - Seek inspiration from current data journalists' work:
Graphic Detail The Economist's blog sharing their visual work. FiveThirtyEight A digital publication focusing on politics, economics, and sports, that frequently uses data visualization. The Nerd Blog ProPublica's behind-the-scenes blog for data journalists. @WSJGraphics The Wall Street Journal's Twitter feed for their graphics team. @nytGraphics The New York Times' Twitter feed for their graphics team. @postgraphics The Washington Post's Twitter feed for their graphics team. @BBGVisualData Bloomberg's Twitter feed for their graphics team. @BBCNewsGraphics BBC News' Twitter feed for their graphics team. - Check out DataJournalism.com
DataJournalism.com is a project run by the European Journalism Centre to provide free educational resources to data journalists. In particular, they are known for publishing digital "Data Journalism Handbooks" that can be read for free.
- Check out relevant books in the library's collection:
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Visual Journalism by ISBN: 3899559193 -
The Data Journalism Handbook by When you combine the sheer scale and range of digital information now available with a journalist's "nose for news" and her ability to tell a compelling story, a new world of possibility opens up. With The Data Journalism Handbook, you'll explore the potential, limits, and applied uses of this new and fascinating field. This valuable handbook has attracted scores of contributors since the European Journalism Centre and the Open Knowledge Foundation launched the project at MozFest 2011. Through a collection of tips and techniques from leading journalists, professors, software developers, and data analysts, you'll learn how data can be either the source of data journalism or a tool with which the story is told--or both. Examine the use of data journalism at the BBC, the Chicago Tribune, the Guardian, and other news organizations Explore in-depth case studies on elections, riots, school performance, and corruption Learn how to find data from the Web, through freedom of information laws, and by "crowd sourcing" Extract information from raw data with tips for working with numbers and statistics and using data visualization Deliver data through infographics, news apps, open data platforms, and download linksISBN: 1449330061Publication Date: 2012-08-14 -
The Wall Street Journal Guide to Information Graphics by In today's data-driven world, professionals need to know how to express themselves in the language of graphics effectively and eloquently. Yet information graphics is rarely taught in schools or is the focus of on-the-job training. Now, for the first time, Dona M. Wong, a student of the information graphics pioneer Edward Tufte, makes this material available for all of us. In this book, you will learn: to choose the best chart that fits your data; the most effective way to communicate with decision makers when you have five minutes of their time; how to chart currency fluctuations that affect global business; how to use color effectively; how to make a graphic "colorful" even if only black and white are available. The book is organized in a series of mini-workshops backed up with illustrated examples, so not only will you learn what works and what doesn't but also you can see the dos and don'ts for yourself. This is an invaluable reference work for students and professional in all fields.ISBN: 0393347281Publication Date: 2013-12-16
Science and Engineering
Below are some resources for data visualization in science and engineering.
- If you are an Engineer, check out the CommKit articles by MIT's Communication Lab for figure design in different engineering disciplines.
- For quick tips, check out one or more of these resources:
10 Foolproof Steps Anna Clemen's 10 steps to creating better figures. Design Tips for Scientists UT Austin, College of Natural Sciences "Design Tips for Scientists" guide. - For more detailed reading, check out one or more of these resources:
10 Simple Rules for Better Figures The journal PLOS Computational Biology's quick guide to better figures. Points of View The journal Nature's "Points of View" column with advice for researchers on the use of data visualization. Points of Significance The journal Nature's "Points of Significance" column with advice for researchers on the use of statistics. Scientific Data Visualization Martin Krzywinski's guidelines for designing scientific data visualizations. - For tips on designing a poster or graphical abstract, check out these resources:
Poster Design Martin Krzywinski's guidelines for designing a scientific poster. Poster Design Hospital Martin Krzywinski's helpful poster makeovers. Graphical Abstract Design Martin Krzywinski's guidelines for designing a graphical abstract. Graphical Abstract Hospital Martin Krzywinski's helpful graphical abstract makeovers. - Seek inspiration from current practitioners' work:
SA Visual Scientific American's blog sharing their visual work. - Check out relevant books in the library's collection:
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The Visual Display of Quantitative Information PAPERBACK by Paperback edition of Edward Tufte's classic book on statistical charts, graphs, and tables, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. "Best 100 books of the 20th Century." Amazon.com.ISBN: 9781930824133Publication Date: 2001-04-20
Business
Below are some resources for data visualization in business.
- Consider joining some of the related student groups on campus:
- Seek inspiration from current practitioners' work:
Graphic Detail The Economist's blog sharing their visual work. Tableau Viz of the Day Tableau Public's gallery. Microsoft Power BI's Galleries Microsft Power BI's official community galleries. - Check out relevant books in the library's collection:
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The Big Book of Dashboards by The definitive reference book with real-world solutions you won't find anywhere else The Big Book of Dashboards presents a comprehensive reference for those tasked with building or overseeing the development of business dashboards. Comprising dozens of examples that address different industries and departments (healthcare, transportation, finance, human resources, marketing, customer service, sports, etc.) and different platforms (print, desktop, tablet, smartphone, and conference room display) The Big Book of Dashboards is the only book that matches great dashboards with real-world business scenarios. By organizing the book based on these scenarios and offering practical and effective visualization examples, The Big Book of Dashboards will be the trusted resource that you open when you need to build an effective business dashboard. In addition to the scenarios there's an entire section of the book that is devoted to addressing many practical and psychological factors you will encounter in your work. It's great to have theory and evidenced-based research at your disposal, but what will you do when somebody asks you to make your dashboard 'cooler' by adding packed bubbles and donut charts? The expert authors have a combined 30-plus years of hands-on experience helping people in hundreds of organizations build effective visualizations. They have fought many 'best practices' battles and having endured bring an uncommon empathy to help you, the reader of this book, survive and thrive in the data visualization world. A well-designed dashboard can point out risks, opportunities, and more; but common challenges and misconceptions can make your dashboard useless at best, and misleading at worst. The Big Book of Dashboards gives you the tools, guidance, and models you need to produce great dashboards that inform, enlighten, and engage.ISBN: 1119282713Publication Date: 2017-04-24 -
Information Dashboard Design by Dashboards have become popular in recent years as uniquely powerful tools for communicating important information at a glance. Although dashboards are potentially powerful, this potential is rarely realized. The greatest display technology in the world won't solve this if you fail to use effective visual design. And if a dashboard fails to tell you precisely what you need to know in an instant, you'll never use it, even if it's filled with cute gauges, meters, and traffic lights. Don't let your investment in dashboard technology go to waste. This book will teach you the visual design skills you need to create dashboards that communicate clearly, rapidly, and compellingly. Information Dashboard Design will explain how to: Avoid the thirteen mistakes common to dashboard design Provide viewers with the information they need quickly and clearly Apply what we now know about visual perception to the visual presentation of information Minimize distractions, cliches, and unnecessary embellishments that create confusion Organize business information to support meaning and usability Create an aesthetically pleasing viewing experience Maintain consistency of design to provide accurate interpretation Optimize the power of dashboard technology by pairing it with visual effectiveness Stephen Few has over 20 years of experience as an IT innovator, consultant, and educator. As Principal of the consultancy Perceptual Edge, Stephen focuses on data visualization for analyzing and communicating quantitative business information. He provides consulting and training services, speaks frequently at conferences, and teaches in the MBA program at the University of California in Berkeley. He is also the author of Show Me the Numbers: Designing Tables and Graphs to Enlighten. Visit his website at www.perceptualedge.com.ISBN: 0596100167Publication Date: 2006-02-07 -
Show Me the Numbers by Addressing the prevalent issue of poorly designed quantitative information presentations, this accessible, practical, and comprehensive guide teaches how to properly create tables and graphs for effective and efficient communication. The critical numbers that measure the health, identify the opportunities, and forecast the future of organizations are often misrepresented because few people are trained to design accurate, informative materials, but this manual helps put an end to misinformation. This revised edition of the highly successful book includes updated figures and 91 additional pages of content, including new chapters about quantitative narrative and current misuses of graphs--such as donut, circle, unit, and funnel charts--and new appendices that cover constructing table lens displays and box plots in Excel and useful color palettes for presentation materials.ISBN: 0970601972Publication Date: 2012-06-01
Hand-Drawn
Below are some resources for hand-drawn data visualization.
- Check out Ann Emery's guide on "How to Sketch, Doodle, and Draw Data Visualization Drafts by Hand"
- Seek inspiration from current practitioners' work:
Dear Data A famous project conducted by designers Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec in which they exchanged data visualizations about their lives, written on postcards. @Mona Chalabi A data journalist and illustrator who creates hand-drawn visualizations. @catmule The work of Catherine Madden. Carl Richards The work of Carl Richard from the New York Times. - Check out relevant books in the library's collection:
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Dear Data by Equal parts mail art, data visualization, and affectionate correspondence, Dear Data celebrates "the infinitesimal, incomplete, imperfect, yet exquisitely human details of life," in the words of Maria Popova (Brain Pickings), who introduces this charming and graphically powerful book. For one year, Giorgia Lupi, an Italian living in New York, and Stefanie Posavec, an American in London, mapped the particulars of their daily lives as a series of hand-drawn postcards they exchanged via mail weekly--small portraits as full of emotion as they are data, both mundane and magical.Dear Data reproduces in pinpoint detail the full year's set of cards, front and back, providing a remarkable portrait of two artists connected by their attention to the details of their lives--including complaints, distractions, phone addictions, physical contact, and desires. These details illuminate the lives of two remarkable young women and also inspire us to map our own lives, including specific suggestions on what data to draw and how. A captivating and unique book for designers, artists,correspondents, friends, and lovers everywhere.ISBN: 9781616895327Publication Date: 2016-09-06 -
W. E. B. du Bois's Data Portraits by "As visually arresting as it is informative."--The Boston Globe "Du Bois's bold colors and geometric shapes were decades ahead of modernist graphic design in America."--Fast Company's Co.Design W.E.B. Du Bois's Data Portraits is the first complete publication of W.E.B. Du Bois's groundbreaking charts, graphs, and maps presented at the 1900 Paris Exposition. Famed sociologist, writer, and Black rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois fundamentally changed the representation of Black Americans with his exhibition of data visualizations at the 1900 Paris Exposition. Beautiful in design and powerful in content, these data portraits make visible a wide spectrum of African American culture, from advances in education to the lingering effects of slavery. They convey a literal and figurative representation of what he famously referred to as "the color line," collected here in full color for the first time. A landmark collection for social history, graphic design, and data science. * Data display, visualizations, and infographics far ahead of their time * Colorful graphs and charts are mesmerizing pieces of art in their own right * A valuable companion to W.E. B. Du Bois's The Souls of Black Folk * Includes contributions from Aldon Morris, Silas Munro, and Mabel O. Wilson W.E.B. Du Bois's Data Portraits is an informative and provocative history, data, and graphic design book that continues to resonate with audiences today.ISBN: 1616897066Publication Date: 2018-10-23 -
Infographics Designers' Sketchbooks by We are living in a golden age of data visualization, in which designers are responding to the information overload of our digital era with astonishing feats of visual thinking. Using a wide variety of techniques, they transform complex ideas into clear, engaging, and memorable infographics. In recent years, books and websites have been collecting the field's best. While stimulating, these finished projects offer little insight into how visual solutions were reached, making them of limited use to designers wanting to produce work of their own. InInfographic Designers' Sketchbooks, more than fifty of the world's leading graphic designers and illustrators open up their private sketchbooks to offer a rare glimpse of their creative processes. Emphasizing idea-generating methods--from doodles and drawings to three-dimensional and digital mock-ups--this revelatory collection is the first to go inside designers' studios to reveal the art and craft behind infographic design.ISBN: 1616892862Publication Date: 2014-10-14
Questions about Data Visualization?
Please contact Kate Kryder, our Data Analysis and Visualization Specialist.