Summary and Setup

ATTENTION This is an experimental test of The Carpentries Workbench lesson infrastructure. It was automatically converted from the source lesson via the lesson transition script.

If anything seems off, please contact Zhian Kamvar zkamvar@carpentries.org

Library Carpentry’s aim is to teach researchers basic concepts, skills, and tools for working with data so that they can get more done in less time, and with less pain. The lessons below were designed for those interested in working with {{page.domain}} data in {{page.topic}}.

Prerequisites

Library Carpentry’s teaching is hands-on, so participants are encouraged to use their own computers to insure the proper setup of tools for an efficient workflow. These lessons assume no prior knowledge of the skills or tools, but working through this lesson requires working copies of the software described below. To most effectively use these materials, please make sure to install everything before working through this lesson.

Getting Started

To get started, follow the directions in the “Setup” tab to download data to your computer and follow any installation instructions.

Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets are useful for data entry and data organization, and some subsetting and sorting of the data as well as getting an overview of the data. To interact with spreadsheets, we can use LibreOffice, Microsoft Excel, Gnumeric, OpenOffice.org, or other programs. Commands may differ a bit between programs, but general ideas for thinking about spreadsheets is the same.

For this lesson, if you don’t have a spreadsheet program already, you can use LibreOffice. It’s a free, open source spreadsheet program.

Windows

• Download the Installer
  Install LibreOffice by going to the installation page. The version for Windows should automatically be selected. Click Download. You will go to a page that asks about a donation, but you don’t need to make one. Your download should begin automatically.
• Install LibreOffice
  Once the installer is downloaded, double click on it and it should install.

macOS

• Download the Installer
  Install LibreOffice by going to the installation page. The version for macOS should automatically be selected. Click Download. You will go to a page that asks about a donation, but you don’t need to make one. Your download should begin automatically.
• Install LibreOffice
  The file LibreOffice_X.X.X_MacOS_x86-64 (whichever version of LibreOffice you have selected) should have been downloaded. Double click on this file, and LibreOffice will be installed.

Linux

• Download the Installer
  Install LibreOffice by going to the installation page. The version for Linux should automatically be selected. Click Download. You will go to a page that asks about a donation, but you don’t need to make one. Your download should begin automatically.
• Install LibreOffice
  Once the installer is downloaded, double click on it and it should install.

                        

Download Data File

Download training_attendance.xlsx, which is a xlsx file that should automatically download. You may need to right click or control click in order to save the file (NOTE: In Safari, right click and select download linked file; in Chrome and Firefox, right click and select save link as). Make a note of the location (i.e the folder, your desktop) to which you save the file.