Open Refine for Archivists Workshop

Dealing with messy and non-standard data in archival description, file lists, and other metadata operations can be a massive headache. Manually adjusting lines of data can take hours – maybe days – of time. This hands-on workshop will focus on the use of OpenRefine, one of the most powerful tools used to bring order to data. Students will learn how to manipulate datasets using GREL (General Refine Expression Language), and practice using OpenRefine to speed data transformation and cleanup.

Participants will:

• Learn how to import and export a dataset in OpenRefine
• Understand how to filter and facet to work within subsets of data
• Practice transforming data using GREL (General Refine Expression Language), including common tasks for archives, such as standardizing dates
• Be introduced to Regular Expressions (RegEx), and practice using these in both filtering and transforming data
• Learn about data reconciliation (matching data against master lists)

Date: Monday, 9 March 2020

Time: 9:00 am to 12:00 pm 

Location: York University Libraries (Scott Library, room 531), 4700 Keele Street, North York, Ontario M3J 2S5

Cost: $80 (AAO members); $50 (AAO student members); $120 (non-members)

Other: Please bring a laptop with Open Refine installed to the workshop. 

Refreshments will not be provided. Coffee is available at the food court.

About the Instructor:Jeremy Heil has been the Digital and Private Records Archivist at Queens University Archives since 2001. He holds a Master of Archival Studies from the University of British Columbia and a B.A. (Honours) in History and Visual Arts from Brock University. He has worked as an archivist for the Chung Collection at the UBC Rare Book and Special Collections, and in the Private Records Section of the Provincial Archives of Alberta. Jeremy is a former president of the Archives Association of Ontario and currently serves on the Boards of the ACA and Access to Memory Foundation. He has published articles and presented papers on various topics, and taught workshops on electronic records, photographs, and artworks in archives.

The AAO is grateful for the venue and hosting support of York University Libraries.