Workshop: Introduction to OpenRefine

The NWU Centre for Digital Humanities cordially invite you to the "Introduction to OpenRefine" Workshop. OpenRefine is a free, open-source tool that provides an accessible bridge for exploring, cleaning, transforming, and reconciling such data before further analysis or visualisation. Importantly, every transformation is transparent and reversible, aligning with the critical and interpretive sensibilities central to digital humanities research.

Level: Digital Skills For Humanities Scholars (Entry Level).

By the end of this introductory workshop, participants will be able to:

• Import and inspect messy humanities datasets (e.g. CSV or TSV exports from archives or digital collections).
• Explore data using faceting, filtering, and clustering to surface anomalies, duplicates, and outliers.
• Apply transformations and corrections (string operations, bulk edits) safely with undo/redo and a complete audit trail.
• Reconcile names and terms against external authorities (e.g. VIAF, Wikidata) to anchor data in broader cultural and scholarly networks.
• Export cleaned outputs for downstream use (e.g. for analysis, visualisation, or publication).
• Reflect on the interpretive and ethical choices inherent Register on or before in data cleaning.

Poster