A sample of nearby galaxies was built from the AKARI/FIS all sky survey cross-correlated with the SDSS and GALEX surveys. The spectral energy distributions from 0.15 to 160 microns of these galaxies are analysed to study dust attenuation and star formation properties. The calibrations of the amount of dust attenuation as a function of the IR-to-UV flux ratio and the FUV-NUV colour are re-investigated: the former one is confirmed to be robust and accurate whereas the use of the FUV-NUV colour to measure dust attenuation is found highly uncertain. The current star formation rate given by the SED fitting process is compared to that directly obtained from the UV and total IR luminosities. It leads to an accurate estimate of dust heating by old stars. We emphasize the importance of such a sample as a reference for IR selected star forming galaxies in the nearby universe.