Putting Excel to Work in the Library

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Google Buzz
  • Forward

Sep - Nov 2004

Excel spreadsheets can help you handle a wide range of library activities. Do you ever need to

  • Keep track of volunteers and their hours?
  • Allocate materials funds by department?
  • Manage and sort lists of items?
  • Create sign-off sheets to track staff work on ongoing tasks such as shelf reading?
  • Arrange desk/duty schedules?
  • Count and project Internet use by per day/week/month?

If you’d like to learn how to manage these or similar tasks in a format that can be easily saved, printed, and emailed, this basic Excel class is for you.

And if you have been reluctant to tackle Excel, come and give it a try. You will be surprised what a basic understanding of the program will enable you to accomplish. The skills you learn in this workshop will help you do your job more efficiently with just a little effort.

Workshop Description: In this all-day hands-on workshop, students will learn how to create basic Excel worksheets and charts. Through library-oriented exercises you will learn how to format, enter data into, save, and print a worksheet in Excel. You will also learn how to create formulas and to perform simple calculations in Excel, and to manage lists of items. The instructor will also provide an Excel vocabulary list and cheat sheets, as well as practical, useful tips that can be applied immediately.

Preliminary Course Outline:

  • Creating a Worksheet in Excel
    • Enter information into the worksheet
    • Format the worksheet
    • Move around within the worksheet
    • Alphabetize within the worksheet
    • Use AutoSum
  • Working with Formulas
    • What is a formula?
    • Why do worksheets need to use formulas?
    • How to construct a simple formula
  • Creating Charts and Graphs
    • Managing Data in a List
    • Printing and Saving Worksheets

Who Should Attend: Anyone from the California library community with an interest in learning basic Excel skills. This course is also appropriate for library circulation and reference staff, technical services staff, support staff, and volunteers who need to organize data, perform calculations, or manage lists of items.

Prerequisites: This course requires that students be comfortable with basic computer skills, including using a mouse, navigating the web, and basic keyboarding. For help with these basic skills, we recommend the New Computer Users section of the Infopeople How-to Guides, at infopeople.org/howto.

To be successful in this course, you should be comfortable using and moving around in Microsoft Windows.

Pre-workshop assignment: Think of ways that Excel can make your job easier and more productive. What would you like to accomplish with the new skills you will gain in this workshop?

Check-in: 8:30 to 9 AM Instruction: 9 AM to 4:30 PM

Available for contracting: 
No