OpenRefine: Intermediate Skills for Data Manipulation

This event has already taken place. BLC members can use the form above to access the webinar recording and associated materials. Please use your institutional email address to gain access to these resources.

This workshop will cover intermediate to advanced OpenRefine skills including data normalization, matching data against controlled vocabularies using reconciliation and API queries, and extending data by bringing in new information from external sources. 

At the conclusion of this workshop, participants will be able to: 

• Understand the differences between OpenRefine and Excel for data editing and organization.  
• Use tools (split multi-valued cells, text facet, and cluster and edit) to normalize data. 
• Construct a simple expression using General Refine Expression Language (GREL).  
• Query the FAST API and parse the JSON response to add matching terms to their dataset. 
• Install a reconciliation service and use it to reconcile their data against an external data source. 

Please note space is limited to 40 participants. This program will be recorded, and the recording will be available exclusively to BLC members. 

What to Know Before Attending 

Prior to the workshop, attendees should install OpenRefine. Confirm that it has been installed by double-clicking the OpenRefine diamond icon and pointing a browser to http://127.0.0.1:3333/. If the OpenRefine site loads, it has been successfully installed. 

A spreadsheet will be provided beforehand containing data that we will edit in the workshop.  

Prior to the workshop, participants should know:  

• How to install OpenRefine 
• How to create a project in OpenRefine 
• How to undo and redo work in OpenRefine 
• Basics of the interface, such as the Edit cells and Edit columns drop-down menus  
• Facets and filters (the types of facets offered)