Another gem you may not have known about is sorting on Rows; the default sort is Columns.  This is a quick, but useful TechTIP you can learn in less than 60 seconds.

Highlight the rows you wish to sort.  From the main menu select Data, Sort, and then Options.  Click on Sort left to right, then click OK.  You should now see the first row of your highlighted rows shown in the Sort by selector.

I had a lot of requests for the Dashboard presentation we covered last week.  If you didn't read the TechTIP last week, or forgot to request your copy you can still get it.  It is a useful primer for understanding the difference between data vs information, and graphical vs tabular data presentation. Send an email to editor@corbittassociates.com for your copy of the Dashboard PowerPoint presentation.

A reader wrote I should read the book by Edward R. Tufte, Visual Explanations.  My example was pulled from actual work created in 1999, and I had not then read the book, published in 1997 by Edward Tufte.  But, I had reached a similar conclusion.  Last year I attended a one-day course by Dr. Tufte, Presenting Data and Information.  I can highly recommend his course, and you can learn more about the course and his other books at www.edwardtufte.com .  His three books are also included on my Good Reading list.

For your convenience we have added a link to the TechTIP Archive on our website.  We have published several articles in a local high-tech magazine, TechLINKS.  They have done a major overhaul of their website and links to our published articles were broken.  The links are fixed now and can be accessed by following the CA Articles link.