INLS261 | Tools for Information Literacy

Task - format spreadsheets to take advantage of the underlying tools

You are to download and modify several existing worksheets (if you want to work in Excel 2003, use these worksheets instead) to make them a more useful product. The task will require you to construct a workbook that can be used both as an electronic spreadsheet and as a paper product, capable of being easily used by a busy executive. The final workbook will include:

• seven worksheets, each containing statistical data (numerical and/or textual) about selected current topics
• you are to modify all worksheets in some fashion to make them more useful both as an electronic and as a paper product
  • some worksheets will be modified specifically to make the data in them more visible
    • this may include converting data already in the worksheet to different kinds of data
    • may include using one or more of the tools to manipulate the data, or
    • may include using your formatting skills to tidy up some spreadsheet inefficiencies

You will also create several charts based on the worksheets and add these charts to the workbook.

You will be called upon to demonstrate specific spreadsheet skills on one or more of the worksheets. These skills will be laid out as subtasks on the gradesheet.

Everything in this task is something we will have demonstrated and/or tried in class.

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Condition

Although there are several different commercial spreadsheet software applications, we will use Microsoft Excel (either 2003 or 2007) for this purpose.

If you wish, you may work in multi-person teams on this task. When you team has completed the task, one member of the team will store it in that person's password protected directory. Each of the members of the team will place a hyperlink to it on their respective web sites (the individual storing it will have a relative link to it, the others will have absolute links to the finished task). When it's ready for me to download and grade, send me a note telling me to retrieve it from your websites.

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Standard

It should meet the standards laid out on the task 04 gradesheet. Tasks 03, 04, 05, and 06 should have standard file names that follow this structure:

• yyyymmdd.LastnameFirstname.TaskNN.file_extension
• as in, for example, 20080101.JohnsonPat.Task04.xlsx

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