Create Effective Data Visualizations - NNLM Webinar

Create Effective Data Visualizations

The NNLM has offered a number of excellent webinars recently.  Here's another one on data viz for those of you who are so inclined.

I was particularly happy to hear them say, "Forget Pie Charts!"

Instructors: Katie Pierce Farrier, Elizabeth Roth

Data visualization is a key part of communicating information. Learn about common types of visualizations and how to use them to meet the information needs of your audience. This class will give examples of different chart types and will discuss common pitfalls when creating visualizations. Lastly, instructors will use example datasets to demonstrate creating visualizations in Tableau Public. 

Objectives:

1. Identify common types of data and their uses.
2. Determine strengths and weaknesses of example data visualizations
3. Use Tableau Public to create data visualizations.

Class Resources:

Slide Deck

Practice Dataset

Upload Instructions for Dataset to Tableau

Additional Reading on Data Visualization: 

Effective Data Visualization (c2019)

Storytelling with Data (c2015)

The Functional Art (c2012)

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information (c2001)

Knowledge is Beautiful (c2014)

Designing Effective Health Infographics

UIC Library Virtual Symposium: Designing Effective Health Infographics [about 3 hours]

• Part 1: Role of Infographics in Promoting Health Equity with Dr. Brenikki Floyd, PhD, MPH
• Part 2: Designing Info Graphics: Less ticks and color, more POV with Professor Robert Zolna, MDES
• Part 3: Creating Infographics with Everyday Software (like PowerPoint)

I learned about this intriguing program at the 2021 Midwest / MC-MLA Chapter Virtual Conference, where Rose Hanneke, one of the Librarians involved, talked about the program.

• Note: They are only listing it on YouTube for 6 months due to Zoom and licensing limitations. The clock is ticking , so watch it while you can!  

Lightning Talk Abstract:

Offering Online Training in Infographic Design through an Expert Speaker Event. 

Rosie Hanneke and Tina Griffin, University of Illinois Chicago Library of the Health Sciences. [Program Description] 

BACKGROUND: Infographics can visually communicate complex information in a manner easily understood by the reader. Those working in health professions increasingly seek to communicate health  information to patients and community members through this medium. In April 2021, our library held a virtual symposium, bringing together three expert speakers to convey the basic principles of design and health communication necessary for understanding what makes an infographic effective. 

DESCRIPTION: We received funding for the three expert speakers from the Network of the National Library of Medicine's Expert Speaker Award. The speakers included faculty from our university's Schools of Design and Public Health, and a librarian with expertise in data visualization from outside our university. The talks covered infographics and health equity; design principles; and using common software to create infographics. The event was open to students, faculty, staff, and the public. We publicized the symposium through listservs, the library's regular communication channels, and the network of community organizations established through university researchers. The symposium was recorded for those unable to attend. 

CONCLUSION: 200 people registered, nearly 100 attended, and over 100 viewed the recording. We had an overwhelmingly positive response to this event despite a compressed timeline for publicity and promotion, demonstrating a strong interest in this topic across diverse audiences. The library served as the ideal virtual gathering place for this interdisciplinary event.

Visualizing the History of Pandemics

Visualizing the History of Pandemics

Puts it all into perspective and a wider context.  Of course the current pandemic is still developing ...

HEALTHCARE

Visualizing the History of Pandemicsn

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The History of Pandemics

Pan·dem·ic /panˈdemik/ (of a disease) prevalent over a whole country or the world.

As humans have spread across the world, so have infectious diseases. Even in this modern era, outbreaks are nearly constant, though not every outbreak reaches pandemic level as the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has.

Today’s visualization outlines some of history’s most deadly pandemics, from the Antonine Plague to the current COVID-19 event.  Read more ...