Research Guides: DSS Social Sciences Workshop Resources: Intro to OpenRefine

Intro to OpenRefine

Working with data can often be messy, but OpenRefine provides tools to identify and correct these issues.

OpenRefine is an open-source Java program that runs on your machine protecting the privacy of your data. It can handle large datasets and meticulously records all actions taken within the program. This feature is particularly beneficial as journals, granting agencies, and other institutions often require comprehensive documentation of data manipulation.

Introduction to OpenRefine Video Demonstration
Watch the workshop zoom video demonstration on the value of utilizing OpenRefine for cleaning messy data, handling large data sets, and recording all data interactions. Video length is 4 minutes 27 seconds.
Social Science Workshop Registration
Register for the Social Science Workshop to gain hands-on experience and practice section objectives.

Recommended Guides

Introduction to OpenRefine Guide
Workshop guide provided by Data Carpentry that explains the motivations for using OpenRefine and some of its unique features.
OpenRefine Website
Explore OpenRefine topics like faceting, clustering, reconciliation, infinite undo and redo, privacy Wikidata, and more. Also, get involved with the OpenRefine community and blog.
OpenRefine User Manual
Comprehensively walks through every aspect of setting up and using OpenRefine, including every interface function and feature from starting a project to exporting it to a file or uploading statements to Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, or another Wikibase instance.

Online Forums

OpenRefine GitHub
Links from the OpenRefine website to provide user-contributed discussions and tutorials.
OpenRefine Community Forum
Links from the OpenRefine website to provide discussions related to support needs, news and announcements, posts from OpenRefine developers and designers, and community engagement in project operations and teaching OpenRefine.
Stack Overflow: Questions tagged [openrefine]
View community discussions related to OpenRefine.

Recommended Books

Using Openrefine by Ruben Verborgh; Max De Wilde
ISBN: 9781783289097
Publication Date: 2013-09-10
This book is targeted at anyone who works on or handles a large amount of data. No prior knowledge of OpenRefine is required, as we start from the very beginning and gradually reveal more advanced features.

Online Tutorials

OpenRefine Beginners Tutorial
Demonstrates the basic operations of using OpenRefine to edit spreadsheets and upload data to Wikidata. Contents include: opening and uploading a spreadsheet onto OpenRefine, reconciling data, building a schema and uploading data from the spreadsheet onto Wikidata. Video length is 11 minutes 40 seconds.