Tutor profile: Jill E.

How can I create a chart from a financial data spreadsheet and put it into my PowerPoint presentation?

Creating content in one program and using it in another is one of the most valuable aspects of Microsoft Office. In this case we will use Excel and PowerPoint. Use Excel to set up the financial data you wish to use in a chart. Select the data of interest by clicking and dragging across the cell range. Choose the chart type you want from the Insert menu. The chart is now on your worksheet for you to select, copy, and paste into your PowerPoint presentation. Along the way, there are a variety of settings you can adjust to get your graph to look exactly how you want.

How do I find out everything I need to know about a property that I am interested in purchasing in New Jersey so that I can decide if the property is right for me and can make a fair market value offer?

I would first show my client how to access the sales history and property tax history of the property in question and provide them with comparable properties in the area so that they can get a sense of what the fair market value of the property is in the current real estate market. Next I would check on the FEMA Flood map to make sure that the chosen property is not in a flood zone. Should they decide to make an offer I would direct them to file a request with the town or city through the Open Public Records Act to request a complete permit history of the property to make sure that all construction work was properly permitted and that there are no open permits with the town which could hang up the closing. I would strongly suggest an inspection to make sure that there are no material defects with the property and encourage the use of an attorney for handling all details of the closing (including title search) should they proceed with purchasing the property.

I have to do a research paper for English 101 on the subject of Gun Control in the USA. How do I go about finding scholarly articles for my research paper?

The first thing I would do to assist my students is to conduct a reference interview in which I would ask my students more specific questions about their chosen research topic. Then when I am certain of which aspects of the topic they wish to research, I would direct them to a list of databases which they will hopefully have access to through their respective educational institutions. I would point out databases likely to have information relevant to their topic and would help them select one or several to help them get started. I would then demonstrate some search strategies with various relevant subject keywords and show them how to perform a search using keywords and limiters to refine their search in order to get to the information they are seeking. I would make sure that the students know what they are doing from here on and see if they have any further questions before continuing on their own. I would let them know that they can always come back for more help of they need it.