Tech Tip #1 - Spreadsheets and Databases

Spreadsheets are for crunching numbers and making graphs. Databases are for storing, manipulating, and reporting on information.

Many of us (including myself) have spreadsheets that are actually databases. This is fine when you have a very small amount of very simple information to track and don't need to do a great deal of analysis and reporting on that information. Excel is so simple and familiar, it is a good tool in this case.

However, your information or what you need to do with it may outgrow a spreadsheet. For example, if you have a list of students in a spreadsheet and want to find all the students that share three qualities - that is difficult to do automatically in Excel but relatively easy in Access. In a database you can set up and run what is called a "query." Basically, you ask the database a question (though you form it in a way the computer can understand) and it gives you the answer.

So, some rules of thumb:

• If you are collecting quantitative research data, budgets, etc. - information involving numbers you will need to calculate, aggregate, and graph, then Excel is your tool
• If you are tracking people, documents, events, etc. - information involving multiple descriptors (name, time, various qualities, etc.) with multiple connections between items (e.g., one teacher hosting more than one student) , then Access is the better tool
  

I encourage you to watch for training from the Faculty Center, ask them for individual training, or contact me (lnickles@wcu.edu) for help getting started with Access. Or, you can try on-line Access tutorials: Microsoft Access for Beginners and Database Solutions (a library of articles).