Introduction to the Open Data Portal and Tyler Tech's Data & Insights Tool

1) Getting Started in Data & Insights (Socrata) and the Maryland Open Data Site/How to Filter Data

Step-by-Step Video Guide

1. From the main page, click the words Data Catalog in the upper left-hand portion of the screen to access the full list of available datasets.
   
2. If you are looking for a particular keyword, type it into the search bar at the top of the page. If you are interested in a particular category of data, you can filter out the unnecessary datasets by clicking one of the categories of interest on the left side of the page.
   

1. After selecting a dataset, Data & Insights will first direct you to the metadata - a thorough description of what is in the dataset. Read over this section to be sure that this dataset is both up-to-date and relevant to the topic you are interested in.
   
2. Selecting View Data in the upper right-hand corner will bring you to the entire dataset. The dataset's rows indicate each observation/recorded event, and its columns describe something about the event. Each intersection of rows and columns has a cell with a value, or unit of information.
   
3. Some datasets contain tens of thousands of rows of information when you may only be interested in observations that fit a certain criteria. To pare down the data so that it only contains the observations of interest, select Filter on the right-hand side. Adding a filter will allow you to exclude rows that do not have a particular value in a column. Select a column you would like to filter by, then select how you would like the filter to function. You can filter data by the following:
   

• is - the dataset will return only rows with values in each column matching the exact value you typed in
  
• is not - the dataset will return only rows with values in each column excluding the exact value you typed in
  
• is less than - the dataset will return only rows with numeric values less than the value you typed in
  
• is at most - the dataset will return only rows with numeric values that do not exceed the value you typed in
  
• is greater than - the dataset will return only rows with numeric values greater than the value you typed in
  
• is at least - the dataset will return only rows with numeric values that are not lower than the value you typed in
  
• is between - the dataset will return only rows with numeric values between the two you typed in
  
• is blank - the dataset will return only rows where there is no data entered in that column
  

1. As soon as you begin editing and applying filters to your dataset, Data & Insights gives you the option of saving your project if you are logged into your account. You will be able to return to this data at a later time without having to reapply all of your filters. Click the Save As... button that has appeared in the yellow box at the top of the page.
   
2. Give your project a name.
   
3. You are now free to close your browser. When you are ready to access this project again, log into your account.
   
4. This will land you on the My Profile page, which you can always access by clicking the user profile icon in the upper right corner. Find your project's name in the list labelled My Assets to pick up where you left off.
   

2) Visualizing the Data

Step-by-Step Video Guide

1. Find a dataset you are interested in making a graph for. Select the dataset, then select View Data from the metadata page.
   
2. From the View Data page, click on Visualize on the upper right-hand side, followed by Launch New Visualization, opening up a new page for the Visualization tool.
   
3. Select which type of graph or chart you would like to choose for your dataset. Your options are:
   

• Bar charts
  
• Column charts
  
• Pie charts
  
• Timeline charts
  
• Histograms
  
• Combo charts (which combine both column charts and timelines)
  
• Scatter plots
  
• Maps (if the data has been georeferenced)
  
• Calendars
  

1. Select what data will be represented along the X-axis by choosing a column from the dataset under the Dimension section on the left.
   
2. Select what data will be represented in the Y-axis by choosing a column from the dataset under the Measure section on the left.
   

1. The Presentation and Axis tabs on the far left will allow us to create a more aesthetically pleasing visual. Beginning with the Axis tab, you can adjust the scale of the data to avoid any wasted space in your graph. For example, if your measures (the data in the Y-axis) tend to be very large values and all of your data points tend to be toward the top of the graph, you can select Scale to min and max values or Custom under the Scale tab to remove any wasted space.
   
2. The Presentation tab allows you to edit the graph's title, axis names, and colors.
   

1. Click Save Draft in the bottom right hand corner.
   
2. Enter a name for your Visualization and click Save. You will be able to edit this project again before publishing it by accessing it under your My Profile screen.
   
3. If you are ready to put this visualization onto the Open Data portal, click Publish... in the upper right.
   

3) In-Depth Visualization Guide

• Bar chart
  
• Column chart
  
• Pie chart
  
• Timeline
  
• Histogram
  
• Combo chart (both a bar chart and a timeline chart)
  
• Scatter plot
  
• Map (which you can use if the dataset has a column with correctly-input addresses or coordinates
  
• Calendar
  

• Data
  
• Axis
  
• Presentation
  
• Legends and Flyouts
  

• Data Selection, where you will choose what dimension, or field that orders/categorizes your data (x-axis), and measure (y-axis) your graph will have
  
• Group Dimension Values, where you can decide how you would like your data in the dimension area to be broken up (notice in the previous screenshot, all the data was recorded on a single blue line, while in the screenshot to the left, the data are recorded on separate green and blue lines)
  
• Timeline Display Options, where, if you have chosen a graph that uses a unit of time, you can decide what intervals are measured along the x-axis
  

• Scale, where you can decide if what data points your y-axis contains (you can have your y-axis begin at a number other than 0, and end at a number higher or lower than the largest observed value, if you so choose)
  
• Reference Lines, where you can add a reference line for your viewer in case there is a particular value you would like to draw attention to (in the example picture on the left, notice the dotted gray line at the value 60)
  

• General, where you will title your graph, add a description, and whether or not the data table the graph is based on will appear
  
• Color, where you can choose the color scheme of your graph
  
• Labels, where you can decide if you would like individual data points to appear on the graph and how you would like your axes' labels to be oriented
  
• Axis Titles, where you will label each of your axes
  

• Flyout Unit Label allows you to edit what unit of measurement appears in the flyout
  
• Annotations allows you to mark a particular point of interest on your graph
  
• Legends allows you to edit qualities about the graph's legend
  

• IS - the graph will only show data points with the value you choose
  
• IS NOT - the graph will exclude data points with the value you choose
  
• STARTS WITH - the graph will only include data 
  
• CONTAINS
  
• DOES NOT CONTAIN
  

4) Uploading Your Own Data

Step-by-Step Video Guide

1. In the upper left hand corner, click the Create drop down menu, and select Dataset.
   
2. Start your new project by giving it a name. This will be the title your project is given when you publish it online, and how you can identify your project from your profile screen while you are working on it.
   

• .CSV (comma-separated values)
  
• .XLS (Microsoft Excel)
  
• .XLSX (Microsoft Excel)
  
• .TSV (tab-separated values)
  

• Changing the name of the column
  
• Providing a description of that column
  
• Moving the column to the left or right on the dataset in order to prioritize certain information
  
• Hiding or deleting columns you would not like to publish
  
• Editing individual cells in a column
  

• The Title of your dataset
  
• A description of your dataset
  
• Row labels for describing what each row in your dataset represents. For example, a dataset might be compromised of rows listing particular events, or, like in the example above, a list of legislation
  
• Tags. These will help users find your dataset using the search function
  
• Licensing (if applicable). If you found your dataset from another site, you'll want to list it here
  
• Attachments. You can attach other documents to your dataset, such as PDFs, that may supplement the data
  
• Time Period. Select how frequently your dataset is updated and what time period your dataset covers
  

5) Georeferencing Your Data

Step-by-Step Video Guide

• The coordinates of the event (latitude and longitude)
  
• The full street address of the event (street number and name, city, state, and Zip code)
  

1. Like any regular dataset, click the Create drop down menu in the upper left, and select Dataset from the drop-down list.
   
2. Give your new project a name.
   
3. Click Add Data on the left.
   
4. On the next screen, click Browse to search for the file on your computer to upload into Data & Insights.
   

1. From the Review & Configure Data page, click Add Georeference on the left.
   
2. Select Lat/Long as your source column type.
   
3. The next two menus will ask which column from your dataset you would like to use for the latitude, and which you would like to use for your longitude. Choose the appropriate column for each. Data & Insights will recognize the first cell in each column as the title of that column, and those titles will show up accordingly in the menus.
   
4. Create a name for the new georeferenced column. The Add Georeference tool is effectively allowing Data & Insights to create its own column with values it recognizes as points on a map.
   
5. Click Add Column on the right, followed by Done at the bottom.
   

1. From the Review & Configure Data page, click Add Georeference on the left.
   
2. Select Address (separated) as your source column type.
   
3. The next four menus will ask which column from your dataset you would like to use for the street number and name, which to use for the city, which to use for the state, and which to use for the Zip code. Choose the appropriate column for each. Data & Insights will recognize the first cell in each column as the title of that column, and those titles will show up accordingly in the menus.
   
4. Create a name for the new georeferenced column. The Add Georeference tool is effectively allowing Data & Insights to create its own column with values it recognizes as points on a map.
   
5. Click Add Column on the right, followed by Done at the bottom.
   

6) More Learning Resources