Reading Logs going digital how to and the benefits of going digital Part III

The TechWizard's Guide to Library Magic

Written by Ms. Cummings

CiTi Library Media Specialist

Reading Logs going digital how to and the benefits of going digital 

Part III

Step 1 - Create a Google Form to collect reading log data

Step 2 - Create the Public Reading Dashboard

Step 3 - create the sections of your dashboard
Step 4 - Create the Teacher Dashboard

Last time we walked through the steps of creating your dashboard file and connecting your data to it.  See Step 3 if you need to.  This time we will be working on each of the sections of the dashboard.  I highly recommend that you don't just recreate what I have created but customize it to your school's needs.  The last post already told you how to create the header for the whole dashboard.  It's simply adding a text box, resizing, an adding a color.  You will repeat this to create headers for each of your sections.  It's easier to do after you have added the section.  Once you have a section created and labeled you can group them together to make it easier to move around and resize.  From the drop-down menu for "add a chart", you can see all the different types of options you have for your dashboard.  See the image below.  Take a little time to explore and try a few out.

The Total Books Read section:

1. You will click on "add a chart" and select Scorecard - the first one that says Total
2. The data source will be your Google Sheet
3. Data Range dimension MUST be Timestamp
4. Metric is Book Title - click on edit after you add it- make sure count is selected.  Hard to see at times.  Hover to the left of Book Title in the Metric column and you will see it change to a pencil then click to edit
5. Now to add a filter - the best place to do this is through the menu at the top.  Click on RESOURCE and MANAGE FILTERS.  This way you can reuse the filter.
6. Click on ADD A FILTER
7. Set filter to "INCLUDE"
8. Set Search Fields to Did you finish the book question
9. Set next field to Equal to (=)
10. Next field type in what your entry was for Finished.  Be sure to type if correctly or it won't work.  I copied and pasted mine from my Google Form.
11. Now go back to editing the scorecard down to the Filter section.  Click on ADD A FILTER and select the filter for Did you finish the book that you just created.

The style section lets you change the appearance of your chart.  Play around with the settings and make your own choices.

I added a text box for the section.  I find it is the easiest way to do this task.

Most Popular Books Section:

1. You will click on "add a chart" and select Table - the first one 
2. The data source will be your Google Sheet
3. Data Range dimension MUST be Timestamp
4. Dimension is Book Title
5. Metric is Book Title - click on edit after you add it - make sure count is selected.  See above for finding that edit button.
6. Results per page should be 10 depending on your layout
7. Sort add "Rate this book" - click on the edit after you add it - you will need to select how you want to work the rating aspect.  Mine is set to sum but I may change that as I test my data.  The options are Sum, Average, Count, Count Distinct, Min, Max, Median, Standard Deviation, and Variance.  I would suggest you talk with one of your math teachers for a recommendation.  I will be having a conversation about it with my math teachers.
8. Go to the Style section and uncheck the box for "Show Pagination" unless you want it to appear.

The style section lets you change the appearance of your chart.  Play around with the settings and make your own choices.

I added a text box for the section.  I find it is the easiest way to do this task.

Popular Authors Section:

1. You will click on "add a chart" and select Table - the first one 
2. The data source will be your Google Sheet
3. Data Range dimension MUST be Timestamp
4. Dimension is Author
5. Metric is Author - click on edit after you add it - make sure count is selected.  See "Total books read section" for finding that edit button.
6. Results per page should be 5 depending on your layout
7. Sort add "Rate this book" - click on the edit after you add it - you will need to select how you want to work the rating aspect.  Mine is set to sum but I may change that as I test my data.  The options are Sum, Average, Count, Count Distinct, Min, Max, Median, Standard Deviation, and Variance.  I would suggest you talk with one of your math teachers for a recommendation.  I will be having a conversation about it with my math teachers.
8. Add a Secondary Sort add "Author" and edit so count is selected
9. Go to the Style section and uncheck the box for "Show Pagination" unless you want it to appear.

The style section lets you change the appearance of your chart.  Play around with the settings and make your own choices.


I added a text box for the section.  I find it is the easiest way to do this task.

Popular Genre Section:

1. You will click on "add a chart" and select Pie the first option
2. The data source will be your Google Sheet
3. Data Range dimension MUST be Timestamp
4. Dimension is Genre
5. Metric is Genre set to Count Distinct
6. Sort on Genre set to Count Distinct (not sure if this makes a difference in this part or not)
7. Interactions check the box enable sorting

The style section lets you change the appearance of your chart.  Play around with the settings and make your own choices.


I added a text box for the section.  I find it is the easiest way to do this task.

Student VS Adults Section: You may not have this section

1. You will click on "add a chart" and select Pie the second option looks like a ring
2. The data source will be your Google Sheet
3. Data Range dimension MUST be Timestamp
4. Dimension is "Select One" or what question you used for student or adult
5. Metric is "Select One" or your question set to "count"
6. Interactions box is checked for Enable Sorting

The style section lets you change the appearance of your chart.  Play around with the settings and make your own choices.

I added a text box for the section.  I find it is the easiest way to do this task.  I also added a text box for the center of the ring "Who will win?"

Show just the data you would like using the filters below! section:

There are actually three Filters.  You will add one at a time.

1. When you click on Filters (3 lines) a box outline will appear just like a text box
2. I typed in the name for the filter
3. The data source will be your Google Sheet
4. Data Range dimension MUST be Timestamp
5. Dimension is Grade or Team
6. The Data Range you will click on the calendar icon - this will only work properly if you set each chart to have the Data Range Dimension as Timestamp.

The style section lets you change the appearance of your chart.  Play around with the settings and make your own choices.

I added a text box for the section.  I find it is the easiest way to do this task.

One last thing:

If you want to embed this on a website you will need the code and you will need to enable embedding.

1. File
2. Embed Report
3. The checkbox "Enable embedding"
4. You will need to select either embed code - New Google Sites will need this
5. Or you will select Embed URL
6. This depends on where you want to embed the display.  You can just get a link and share the link with others.

You should now have a working Reading Dashboard.  The default for updating the data is every 15 minutes.  I need to find the place to adjust the time interval and I will update this post when I have that information.

Part IV will cover the creation of the Teacher Dashboard.  

You will collect a ton of data that teachers will find useful and helps to eliminate multiple reading logs when you share the data.

Part IV