Tidy data for librarians: Glossary

We will discuss good practices for data entry and formatting

We will not discuss analysis or visualisation

Use one column for one variable

Use one row for one observation

Use one cell for one value

Don’t use multiple tables in one sheet

Don’t use multiple tabs in a file

Fill in zero when you mean zero

Use a blank cell to indicate a null value

Don’t use formatting to convey information or make the data look pretty

Don’t put units or comments in cells

Don’t combine several values in one cell

Take care over column names

Avoid including special characters in your data file

Put metadata (units, legends etc.) in a separate file

Excel is notoriously bad at handling dates.

Dates can be stored more robustly as YEAR, MONTH, DAY or YEAR, DAY-OF-YEAR in separate columns.

Use data validation tools to minimise the possibility of input errors.

Use sorting and conditional formatting to identify possibly errors.

Use .csv file format for data storage and processing

Be careful when using commas in values