Documenting a Day

Week two of my INT100 class involved documenting a day in my life and I chose to document Monday, September 14, 2020. In the reflection, I used word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and database applications to log information about what I did that day. The following is an excerpt from my experience.

Functions between word processors, spreadsheet makers, presentation applications, and databases are very unique and operate differently from one another. Each has a unique feature that is more usable on one application that it is for the other. Word processors such as Microsoft Word can display information from a spreadsheet application such as Excel, but Word cannot do complex formulas the way Excel can. PowerPoint can have text and spreadsheet information, but it cannot do the particular functions that Excel and Word were programmed to do, yet it is far better at running graphics and animations. Database applications are similar to spreadsheets but are far more powerful in adding and manipulating data constantly while being run on a server. It is useful for all these apps to share some features from others, but each must have a specialty to be utilized more effectively.

The advantages and disadvantages of each application can be summed up in a spreadsheet-style:

Application	Advantage	Disadvantage
Word Processors: Word, Coral Word Perfect	Capable of multiple text manipulations.	Some word processors have too many options making them challenging to use.
Spreadsheets: Excel, Google Sheets.	Easy to use data input methods for keeping track of information. Formulas.	Formulas can be hard to learn and utilize. No spell checking.
Presentations: PowerPoint, Google Slides	Powerful graphical and animation abilities. Themes.	Like word processors, there are too many features that make it difficult to use.
Databases: SQL, MongoDB	Excellent data storage and manipulation for servers and business needs. Data security.	Expensive to maintain and run. Complex to manage. Must learn its language to understand how to operate.

In my opinion, the best application for documenting information about my day would be spreadsheet software. Spreadsheets are easy to use and can sort data in an order that is easy to understand and present. Data added to a spreadsheet is easy to organize, and if needed, it is also easy to add calculations. Formulas help with adding and changing data to what is already saved on the spreadsheet as well (Vahid and Lysecky). Features such as adding pictures, charts, and graphs also help make things you did during your day stand out more.

Using spreadsheet software comes in handy for all the other applications mentioned earlier. In the case of a word processor, you can take data from the spreadsheet and copy-paste it to the word document without having to create a table like what was done in describing the advantages and disadvantages above. Spreadsheets can also be added to presentations to highlight data when presenting to colleagues or management. I frequently use spreadsheet data in presentations when presenting to senior management to clarify what I am trying to explain. Data from spreadsheets can also be moved to Database software because they operate similarly, and in some cases, the data can be transferred. There are different plug-ins for Excel, which include MySQL for Excel that can take data from the user’s spreadsheet and send it to a database (mysql.com).

Conclusion

Over the years, word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and database applications have made people’s lives easier and businesses much more successful by allowing users to increase their productivity while maintaining the same amount of effort. Personally, I use these applications every day for work assignments, and they enable me to show the management staff my potential at being an effective employee. As time progresses, these applications will become better and more feature-rich, and this will allow everyone to have the potential to become more successful both personally and professionally.

References

MySQL.com (2020) MySQL for Excel

    Retrieved September 18, 2020 from:

    https://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql-for-excel/en/

Vahid, F., Lysecky, S. (July 2015) INT 100: Fundamentals of Information Technology &

    Literacy. Retrieved September 9, 2020 from:

    https://learn.zybooks.com/zybook/ASHFORDINT100AcademicYear2018