Visualising data to engage others

So I feel like I just died and went to heaven. The data nerdy part of me likes to find ways to capture and then show information in a way that makes sense and meaning. Too often I see the basic excel chart (not even bothering to change the colours) which does little to inspire me. We know from evidence and experience that capturing the imagination and interest of those we are influencing to change is key.

I clicked on a button and found Google's Visualization API gallery. These are the applications written by Google or 3rd parties. So if you want to put your values on a map, create annotated time series graphs, generate bar graphs with humour, trnslate a table of data into something visual, create an interactive map, show several indicators over time - I could go on. Seeing is believing. There are sections on maps, google, charts, fun, tables, analytics, project, text and other - enough to keep you amused for hours.

http://code.google.com/apis/visualization/documentation/gallery.html Go here only if you have at least an hour to spare to play and be inspired...

Tips for sharing information via the web

I'm always looking for quick and efficient ways to share information. Here are three that I use and find really helpful. There is some crafty webware available to help the process and it's changing all the time.

1. Social Bookmarking. I use http://www.del.icio.us.com/. If you're still bookmarking to your browser then consider using social bookmarking. Want to know what I am bookmarking then find me on this site - my username is sfraser881. You can find others who might be bookmarking thinsg like you - it is a whole new world of search, discovery, annotation and sharing.

2. Highlighting. Ever found a great paragraph in a website and wnated to point that out to someone? You end up sending an email to a friend with a long winded note explaining what it is all about. No more - use the tool from http://www.awesomehighlighter.com/. Easy to use, you go to the web page you want, use the highighter and it then prompts you to either email the link or share. Here is an example from my book reviews blog http://awurl.com/cpmju0106113

3. Google notebook. If I'm collecting a variety of resources from the web on a specific topic and then want to share those resources often I'm stuck. I now use Google notebook (sign up on iGoogle). You find the web page, right click, add to notebook and it then saves to the notebook you want. When you're ready you can then share that notebook with anyone else. They can then see your web research as well as any comments you may have in there.