In the course of a campaign one might require to have better visual representation of data and to be able to manipulate and change that data so that it can be understood on multiple levels. Google's Fusion Tables is an easy to use platform to organize, share, collaborate, and manipulate data by creating charts, maps, timelines, etc. 

You might wonder what the difference is between Google Docs and Google Fusion Tables, however there are many reasons why you would use Google Fusion Tables over Google Docs for activist purposes. For One, Google Fusion Tables was designed with the idea that eventually the user of the program would want their data published to the public online. Google Docs does have the option of posting your data to the public web, however Google Fusion Tables takes it a step farther by adding better visual representation tools for the data. 

Step 1:

Sign in to your google account by going to the google homepage. 

Step 2:

Locate Google Fusion Tables by navigating to the 'Even More' tab at the top of the webpage. It will be under the "Innovation" Category. 

Step 3:

After clicking on 'Google Fusion Tables', the first page you will come to lists a number of tables in multiple languages. Do not be alarmed, these are not tables that belong to you, they are a list of tables that were made by other users and then published. To create a new table, click on 'New Table' on the left side of the screen. Two options will appear, 'Import Table' and 'New Empty Table'. You have the option here of uploading a table you have already created using a different software, or you can start with a clean slate and imput the data yourself. For this How To, we will click on 'New Empty Table'. 

Step 4:

Four new cloumns will appear in the browser, Text, Number, Location, and Date. Type in the appropriate data in the columns where they belong. 

Step 5:

Once you are finished typing in the data, click on Visualize at the top of the chart to select how you would like the data to be published. There are multiple options here so experiment with different ones to see which visual representation is right for your data. Another great option with Google Fusion Tables is that you can collaborate on the documents with multiple people at once. 

Step 6:

Once you are satisfied with your data table and the accompanying visual representation, click 'Share' at the top right of the webpage to publish it to the internet. 

Here are more Google Fusion Resources (from Google)

• Create a custom Intensity map
  Display polygons in different colors according to values in your data. Combine data values and KML polygon boundaries from your own or other data sources.
• Include a data chart in the map pop-up
  Add a visual display for more of the data in each row.

• Map sample data with Fusion Mapper
  Turn a table of locations into a map in Google Earth or Maps. Display images and customize the map pop-up.
• Map your own data with Fusion Mapper
  Upload your own data to Fusion Tables, and create a map of it in Google Earth and Maps.

• Sharing a map
  Share a map made in Google Fusion Tables.
• How to embed an Intensity Map in Blogger and other web pages
  Here's an example of how to publish the visualizations you create in Fusion Tables more broadly.
• How to embed visualizations in Google Sites
  Work around the javascript restrictions in Google Sites

• Cleaning data in Google Refine
• Using Overlays in Google MapMaker 
  Host your location data in Google Fusion Tables to help while editing Google MapMaker.
• Visualize Field Data in Google Earth and Fusion Tables
  Use Open Data Kit to collect data on mobile devices and bring it into Fusion Tables.

See additional resources for teaching and learning about Google Fusion Tables.

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