How to Work with Pivot Tables in Google Sheets

Google Sheets is a spreadsheet program that is a part of Googles web-based office suite. The program represents an online alternative to Microsoft Excel but it’s compatible both with Microsoft and Open Office file formats.

Since its initial release, back in 2006, there is an ongoing debate whether people should use Google Sheets or MS Excel. There’s no right or wrong answer to this. It all comes down to specific needs and tasks.

Someone would praise Google for its simplicity and ease of collaboration. Others would argue that Google Sheets, compared to Excel is lacking in the functionality department

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How To Visualize Data Instantly With Google Sheets Explore

Excel Spreadsheet Diagram

Working with big datasets is never an easy task. Tons of spreadsheet data divided into rows and columns can be frustrating and stressful so anything to boost our productivity is more than welcome. And this is where companies like Google step in.

From time to time, Google releases a new update, becoming smarter and more practical than before. This happened just recently, when Google released an update for its spreadsheet application, Sheets, making it possible to visualize spreadsheet data even more easily than before.

If you haven’t explored this updated feature yet, here’s a closer look at how and why you should, especially if you work with data.

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5 Chrome Apps And Extensions Lawyers Should Be Using

Keyboard Law Technology

While it’s true that highly niched professionals like lawyers require a specific set of tools, sometimes something as simple as a Chrome add-on can be just as (or dare we say, even more?) powerful.

If you’re a lawyer looking for better, faster ways to get things done, working with Google Chrome can be a plus.  Whether you’re on the web for legal research, accessing databases, or working remotely outside of the office, Chrome offers a long list of apps and extensions to help improve the way you work.

And the right ones can make a world of difference.

So take your online productivity up a notch. A couple of these Chrome apps and extensions can speed up the most common and time consuming tasks.

Collect Online Evidence With WebPreserver

When you have cases involving social media harassment, incriminating posts, or cyberstalking, it automatically means spending hours online gathering screenshots. Not only that, but your research needs to be legally admissible. Luckily, there’s an extension for that: WebPreserver.

This Chrome extension will allow you to preserve, timestamp and authorize your findings with a single click. The extension links you to a web capture system designed for law firms and agencies to instantly create legally admissible evidence.

Research More Effectively On WestlawNext With Bestlaw

This next Chrome extension is centered upon offering you an expanded toolset to improve your workflow with WestlawNext. Bestlaw claims to add the features WestlawNext forgot.

WestlawNext Research Toolbar

Image Source: Bestlaw.io

Bestlaw does this by adding a toolbar to the document you’re reading. With it, you can copy Bluebook citations, generate table of contents, jump to footnotes, look up case information on Google and Wikipedia, share documents via email or social media and more.

Use Locate A Lawyer To Quickly Find & Consult With Other Lawyers

Looking for another lawyer? Use Locate A Lawyer  in your search. Developed by LawInfo.com, Locate A Lawyer can give you quick access from Chrome to its directory of pre-screened attorneys, all with verified qualifications and credentials. You can easily search by name, zip code, firm, and area of law.

Use Agilewords To Speed Up Legal Document Reviews

The review and approval process is necessarily a lengthy one at times, especially for legal documents that need feedback, editing, updating, and approval. For lawyers who need to collaborate on legal document, there’s Agilewords, the document reviewing tool you can access directly within Chrome.

This tool provides you with features such as real-time collaboration, secure uploading and hosting, revision tracking, online/offline editing, and the ability to audit your document’s access.

Instantly Look Up Citations From Webpages With Jureeka!

When researching a case, you may come across web pages with legal citations that appear throughout the article that aren’t hyperlinked. This Chrome extension can save you that hassle of toggling back and forth, looking up citation sources.  Jureeka! will turn those legal citations into hyperlinks as long as it is on a web page. So even if the author of the article does not link the citation, Jureeka! does.

7 Google Drive Tips To Make Online Research Easier

When you need to learn about something, the Internet is the number one resource to scout out.  And given the amount of information you can find online, no matter what area, industry, or topic you’re researching,  a huge chunk of your time will be spent recording the research you find.

As you can imagine, combined with the web pages you have to go through, this can slow you dow big time. That’s why some users like to keep their workflow online with tools like Google Drive.  But if you’re using Google Drive to quickly record data, then your biggest challenge lies in working between your research and how you use Google Drive itself.

If you’re writing for an online publication, are drafting a research paper, or are reporting on industry trends, accessing the information you record is perhaps one of your main priorities. To make things easier, try a few of the Google Drive tips below to keep your research going smoothly.

1.  Perform A Google Drive Search from Chrome

Because you can need a document at any given time, it’s important to be able to pull up the right file in an instant. Google Drive Quick Search makes it easy to start a search through your Drive directly from the Chrome URL address bar. Type “drive” in the address bar, your keywords and query, then hit enter. You’ll be directed to your drive with the related results ready and waiting for you to sift through.

2. Save Your Text to Google Drive

Save Text to Google Drive does exactly what its name implies. This Chrome extension makes it super easy to export heavily dense text webpage research from the web directly to your Google Drive.

Save text to Google Drive

Once installed, simply highlight the text you’re interested in, activate the extension by clicking on it in your toolbar or extension menu, and click on the Save button. The extension will create a document with the text in the Drive you’re logged into.

3. Quickly Access Folders and Create Google Docs From Your Toolbar

To access folders and separate files instantly, simply bookmark the URL of the file or document on your toolbar.  Open the file or folder in Google Drive and bookmark the URL you see in the address bar. Admittedly, this is a simple tip, but extremely handy if you like keeping things at your fingertips.

Creating Google Docs Instantly

 4. Search Your Google Drive Directly From Gmail

Don’t waste time going back and forth between your Google Drive and Gmail.  You can do both at the same time by adding the Apps Search for Gmail extension. This is handy for when you’re either exchanging emails regarding your research project or are working with colleagues.

It will let you extend your search to Google Docs to fish out the files you’re looking for.  You can add the extension by going into Settings>Labs from your Gmail.  Then select to enable it for your account. Don’t forget to hit the “Save Changes” button at the bottom.

5. Edit PDF Text Uploaded To Google Drive

Because a lot of research comes in the PDF format, you may want to pay attention to the “Convert Text from Uploaded PDF and image files” setting. Have you been ignoring it? Well, it’s time to start paying attention to it. This setting allows you to convert PDF to text which you can then  edit within a Google Doc.

Convert text from PDF

Go to the gear icon Google Drive and access the drop down menu. Then go to Upload Settings. From there, put a check mark in the “Convert Text from Uploaded PDF and image files”  option by clicking on it.  Select the Document language. You can have this permanently turned on, but if you want to use it selectively, keep the “Confirm settings before each upload” option checked.

6.  Save Images Directly to Google Drive

Who doesn’t clip web pages when researching online? Good news is you can do it with Google Drive. Save to Google Drive can serve as a simple web clipping tool, allowing you to instantly save content from the web to a Google Drive folder. Once you have it installed,  go to the page you’re interested in and activate it by clicking on its button to the right of the address bar.  It will then save your content in .PNG format.

7. Access Google Drive And Other Google Services From Chrome

Here’s a great Chrome extension for pushing your research productivity to the limits. Black Menu for Google allows you to access files on your Drive and to your other Google services in a side bar right within Chrome.

Perfect for Google addicts with research spread across different services. You can get the Black Menu extension from the Chrome Web Store.

Got any Google Drive tips of your own? We’d love to hear them! Add them in the comments below and let us know how they helped you deal with your web research.

5 Creative Ways To Search The Web

Web Search Tips

Searching the web on Google is always the number one go-to solution for finding help online. And although its last update (aka Hummingbird) focused on a smarter way of finding results, it is still possible (and frustrating) to go beyond the third page of your search results. Not a very valuable use of your time.

As productivity advocates, we’re always looking for more efficient ways of doing things—even searching the web.  So for this post we’ll break down some quick basic tips (some of which you may already be doing) when you’re ready to give up on Google.

1. Use Content Specific Search Engines

Helpful when….: You’re looking for a specific type of format.

Why: Google offers a number of search results based on type: news, web pages, images, and file formats. Although Google operators can produce results right down to the file format, there are search engines that can offer efficient searches.

Search Benefits: Content specific search engines will give you a highly focused collection of results in contrast to the endless pages of results from Google. Moreover, they come equipped with search filters that further narrow down your hunt.

Tools: There are a number of handy online tools that can help you search for PDF documents, PowerPoint presentations online, or archived webpages. Also, you can find search tools for photos and even third party tools for searching through Flickr.

2. Search By Finding Similar Sites

Search For Similar Images Photo Credit: therichbrooks via photopin cc

Helpful when…: You want to familiarize yourself with a new subject, genre or field.

Why: When you want to learn about something, you’re first step is to find information on the topic and then find websites that cover the subject. If you’re looking for sites on something like fitness, seeking out influential websites in the industry will give you the lay of the land, connecting you to other authoritative sources in that niche.

Search Benefits: When you search like this, your results are pared down to highly related sites instead having to sift through individual articles and web pages.

Tools: Similarsites.com and SimilarWeb.com are a couple of tools that can help you with this type of search. They’re designed to work with thousands of sites that have already been indexed and rated on relevancy by users.

3. Search For Answers By Asking Users

Helpful when….: You have specific questions or only have broad ideas.

Why: When you have a general question your first instinct is to type it out in Google and see what comes up. But when asking a question, you’re looking for general guidance first (“What can I find on this topic?”) or specific information (computer and hardware specs). A better way to finding results is in asking directly in forums, communities, and groups.

Search Benefits: Users in communities and forums can give you one-on-one advice. This beats having to refer to 5 articles on one topic. In addition, you get answers, insights, and hidden details based from personal experience which some general posts may miss.

Tools: Try communities that are active and that attract credible users. Try sites like Quora, for instance, where you get to ask professionals from different industries for their expertise. There are also Google+ communities full of users who are generous with their time and help.

4. Use Social Media, Aggregators & Real Time Search

 Social Media Search

Helpful when…:  You want quick, updated information on a topic.

Why: The power of social media is hard to deny. On social media networks, everyone is sharing a link, comment, or insight on anything and everything–including posts on the topic you’re researching.

Search Benefits: Social networks are extremely powerful with their search features. Searches on popular networks like Google+, Facebook, and Twitter are easily tailored to find posts, users, or hashtags. Using these networks as your search engine, you can zero in on real time posts. In addition, you can get a contextual grasp on any given topic at the moment based on the sentiments of the posters.

Tools: Besides using the social networks themselves, social media aggregators and real time search engines can help. Tools like Alltop and PopURLS will offer you a quick bird’s eye view of current trends. Just type in your search terms and you’re off.

5. Use Websites & Blogs

Helpful when…: You need to find related resources.

Why: When you’re online, you may already have a natural compulsion to click through to other sites from an article you’re reading. Because blogs and websites link out to sites and sources that complement their own content, you can slowly build up a good resource.

Search Benefits: When you consciously practice this as a search method, it could mean that if you start with one quality web site you can find 5 other links that may be helpful. Granted, there are some spammy sites out there. But given that Google has cracked down on bad linking behaviour and has encouraged websites to link to relevant sources in their blog rolls, this type of search method should be a safe bet.

Tools: To find a good quality site to start you off, visit Technorati, the most credible blog directory online.

As an added bonus, you can combine these tips to get even better results. So while Google is the number one tool when it comes to search,  it isn’t the only one you have to resort to!