Research Guides: Data Literacies: Tools

Software

These data visualization tools do not require any programming skills. All of the tools listed are either free to the public or free to members of the WashU Community.

Datawrapper
Datawrapper allows you to create interactive maps, charts, and tables. You can also collaborate with teams and export visualizations to PNG format.
Google Data Studio
Google Data Studio allows you to connect with various data sources such as Google sheets and MySQL to create interactive data dashboards.
Microsoft Excel
With Excel, you can create basic data visualizations such as bar charts and scatter plots. Office 365 is free for members of the WashU community.
Microsoft Power BI Desktop
Power BI Desktop allows you to create interactive reports and visualizations. The functionality of Power BI is similar to Excel, so users familiar with Excel should find Power BI to be user friendly.
Tableau Public
Tableau allows you to create interactive data visualizations and dashboards. One can obtain a Tableau Public account for free.
OpenRefine
OpenRefine allows for easy transformations of your data in a web browser. OpenRefine accepts a variety of formats such as csv and JSON. Even though the processes run in a web browser, download and installation is required.

These tools require prior programming knowledge in R, Python, or JavaScript.

Juypter Notebook
Juypter Notebook allows you to include elements such as live code, analysis, and visualizations in one document. Juypter notebooks can be used with a variety of programming languages such as R, Python, Julia, and C++.
Leaflet
Leaflet is a library that allows you to make mobile-friendly interactive maps. Knowledge of JavaScript is required.
Plotly Open Source Graphing Libraries
Plot.ly open source graphing libraries allow one to create interactive charts. These libraries are available in Python, R, and Javascript. In addition, one can create interactive web applications in Python using Dash.
R Markdown
With R Markdown, you can create static or dynamic documents, presentations, and dashboards using R.
Shiny
Shiny is a web framework for R in which one can create interactive visualizations, reports, and dashboards.
D3
D3 is a JavaScript library which allows one to create interactive visualizations.

Establishing a project management workflow is important when it comes to data literacy because it allows your collaborators to more clearly understand your data and they will be better able to ask questions or give feedback on the data used for the study. A disorganized project management workflow might result in collaborators misinterpreting data, which could be reflected in any data visualizations created as a result of the research. Two recommended project management portals are LabArchives and the Open Science Framework (OSF). LabArchives is available to any member of WashU free of charge, while OSF is free and open to everyone.