How do I figure out how to convert latitude and longitude?

I am working on a project for work and am sifting through reports that have various different types of latitude/longitude formats. I have to input them in decimal form ( eg.36.6521, -82.7722)...problem is - for one I will get ( eg N 33 2 33.8177, 0824149W ) and then yet another form ( eg. 36'36'35'.21N, 89'39'00.10W) I can't tell the difference or figure out how to even input the last two types of numbers into a converter in order to get the decimal form...and I particularly don't understand what the difference between the two last types is. I've found stuff talking about minutes, seconds, etc., and just ended up more confused. Google maps didn't help, I check my locations after converting the numbers and they were on the opposite side of the state that I was working in..any help?How do I figure out how to convert latitude and longitude?
I don't know about the second one, but the last one is in Degrees, minutes, seconds (or DMS) form. There are 60 minutes in a degree and 60 seconds in a minute. So to convert from

100d 30' 0s You multiply 30' times 1/60 of a degree to get 30/60 or .5 of a degree.



There are calculators out there to do this for you if you want:

http://www.satsig.net/degrees-minutes-se鈥?/a>



The second format might still be DMS, but hard to tell.



Finally, just the raw lat/lon numbers aren't sufficient to specify a place. You also have to have a datum with it. It's common to see something like WGS-84, but that's not always true. Other datums like NAD-27 will have offsets.