Finding data online is great. However, knowing how to manipulate it once you have it is just as important. Last week, at SourceCon Dallas, Kameron Swinton and Mike Wolford showed us how. Below are a few tips from their lab session:
Tips for gathering data into Excel:
- Use Mozenda to parse data so you don’t have to click on every link. Mozenda will x-ray a site and pull the data into Excel.
- Use Tabula to extract data from .PDF lists.
Data Cleanup Tips
- Use text to columns to split a persons name from one cell to two cells which allows you to alphabetize.
- Concatenate the data in order to merge the cells and add in a email domain name.
Verify the Data
- Use Full Contact to verify email addresses within your excel spreadsheet.
The session was 45 minutes long and there were a lot of demonstrations and explanations given. Nothing compares to being in the room at the event but hopefully this short summary will send you in the right direction so you can apply these techniques to your sourcing.
Look for more SourceCon Dallas session summaries from me later this week!