OpenRefine: Create an empty column

 Sometimes you just need to add a new empty column to your OpenRefine project. The process is straight forward as we show in this video tutorial.

• From any existing column select the option Edit column and then Add a column based on this column ... 
• By default, the GREL formula repeat the value from the column you selected
• Just replace the value with two quotes like this ""  to create an empty string. You can add any text between the quotes. OpenRefine will add it for all the rows selected by your facet.
• Give your new column and name and click OK
• and you are done! 

We made a quick video tutorial to show you the steps: 

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OpenRefine December 2020 Review

Here is a summary of all the interesting tutorials and videos published about OpenRefine through December. Do not forget to subscribe to our newsletter to get our monthly update right in your mailbox.

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OpenRefine November 2020 Review

Here is a summary of all the interesting tutorials and videos published about OpenRefine through November. Do not forget to subscribe to our newsletter to get our monthly update right in your mailbox.

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OpenRefine October 2020 Review

Through September and October, the BD Guidance team in Colombia ran numerous workshops on data quality and preparation with OpenRefine (all in Spanish). Fortunately, they recorded everything if you want to catch up. 

Do not forget to subscribe to our newsletter to get our monthly update right in your mailbox.

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OpenRefine September 2020 Review

Here is a summary of all the interesting tutorials and videos published about OpenRefine through September. Do not forget to subscribe to our newsletter to get our monthly update right in your mailbox.

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Data Operations for CRM and Marketing - OpenRefine Demo - Webinar Recording

Watch the webinar recording

In case you missed our webinar with Macro on September 10, 2020, you can find here the recording and the slides.

Data management is a core concern facing many companies today. Good data can have a tremendous positive impact on organizational efficiency, productivity, and revenue. Messy data, on the other hand, can have the opposite effect. It can lead to financial losses and disorganization. 

What Is the Business Impact of Data Operations?

• Better Data-Driven Decisions

• Improved Lead Management & Qualification

• Less Frustration

In this webinar, Dan and Martin will discuss the business impact of good data and will touch upon how companies can better manage their data and enhance their data operations strategy.

Martin will also be presenting a demo of OpenRefine, a free open-source data clean up tool.

Dan is the president and founder of Macro. His professional background includes B2B demand generation consulting for Microsoft Dynamics CRM and various international marketing roles in Europe and North America.

Martin is the founder and CEO of RefinePro, a Canadian company focused on data processing and normalization. He created RefinePro to make data within reach of small and medium-sized businesses or departments in larger corporations. Passionate about open source, Martin is a core contributor to the OpenRefine project.

Watch the webinar recording

Data Operations for CRM and Marketing - OpenRefine Demo - Webinar from Martin Magdinier

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The Best Online Courses for OpenRefine 3.3- 2020 version

September often means back to school. If OpenRefine is on your list of new software to learn, we listed below (in no particular order) the best courses released in 2020 for OpenRefine 3.3. They all provide a complete overview of OpenRefine from installation to more advanced features like GREL and reconciliation. All courses combine detailed walkthroughs in text and video with hands-on tutorials to get your new skills in practice. Courses are available in 🇬🇧 English, 🇪🇸Spanish and 🇳🇱 Dutch. 

Of course, the Library, Social Science, Ecology Carpentries and Programming Historian lessons are still relevant and being kept up to date. You can also consult our OpenRefine Foundation class (using OpenRefine 2.6).

We listed their curriculum below to ease the comparison. Let us know in the comment if we missed something! Happy learning. 

Map & Data Library, University of Toronto

https://mdl.library.utoronto.ca/tools/openrefine

Course Content: 

1. (Optional) OpenRefine Installation Instructions
2. OpenRefine Tutorial 1. Survey of Household Spending Activity
3. OpenRefine Tutorial 2. Citizen Science Activity
4. OpenRefine Tutorial 3. Regular Expressions (Regex) Activity
5. OpenRefine Tutorial 4. 311 Calls Activity
6. OpenRefine Augmenting Activity 1: Preparing the data
7. OpenRefine Augmenting Activity 2: Using Reconciliation Services
8. OpenRefine Augmenting Activity 3: Using Add Column by Fetching URLs
9. OpenRefine Augmenting Activity 4: Using Python

Griffith Library

Part 1 Intro Data Wrangle: https://griffithunilibrary.github.io/intro-data-wrangle/

With direct access to their video:

• Launch OpenRefine
• Layout of OpenRefine
• Facets in OpenRefine
• Clustering with OpenRefine
• Filtering with OpenRefine
• Sorting with OpenRefine
• Transforming data using GREL in OpenRefine
• Splitting cells in OpenRefine
• Numbers in OpenRefine
• Scripts in OpenRefine
• Exporting from OpenRefine

Part 2: Advanced-Data Wrangle:  https://griffithunilibrary.github.io/Advanced-data-wrangle/

• Limit the dataset using OpenRefine
• Find a key variable in OpenRefine
• Add a new column based values from two columns in OpenRefine
• Remove duplicate rows with OpenRefine
• GREL cell.cross function to match a key variable from two datasets
• Tidy the ‘Site features’ column using OpenRefine
• Add a column using value.split in OpenRefine
• Alternative method - add a new column using GREL in OpenRefine
• Map data with GeoJSON.io

🇪🇸 GBIF | Global Biodiversity Information Facility: Guía de Uso Básico de OpenRefine para la limpieza de datos sobre biodiversidad

Under Progress documentation in Spanish: https://doi.org/10.15468/doc-gzjg-af18

Course Content: 

• 1. Carga de datos y creación de un proyecto
• 2. Limpieza de datos
• 2.1. Manejo básico de columnas
• 2.2. Uso de Facetas
• 2.3. Uso de Filtros
• 2.4. Uso de Agrupamientos
• 2.5. Deshacer y rehacer cambios
• 2.6. Marcado de registros: banderas y estrellas
• 3. Guardado y exportación de datos y proyectos
• 3.1. Guardado de datos y proyectos
• 3.2. Exportación de datos y proyectos
• 4. Consultas a servicios externos
• 4.1. Consultas externas a través de URLs
• Epílogo
• Agradecimientos
• Apéndice 1: instalación de OpenRefine

🇳🇱 Platform ZelfDoen: online cursus OpenRefine

A Dutch translation of the Library Carpentries course: https://www.zelfdoeninzh.nl/info-tips/online-cursus-openrefine/

Course Content: 

• hoofdstuk 1: OpenRefine: tool voor het opschonen van collectie data
• hoofdstuk 2: Voorbereiding: download het programma en een voorbeeld dataset
• hoofdstuk 3: Importeren van data in OpenRefine
• hoofdstuk 4: De lay out van OpenRefine (rijen en records)
• hoofdstuk 5: Over facetten en filters
• hoofdstuk 6: Over clusteren van gegevens
• hoofdstuk 7: Werken met kolommen en sorteren
• hoofdstuk 8: Transformaties: introductie
• hoofdstuk 9: Transformaties: redo en undo
• hoofdstuk 10: Transformaties: tekst, getallen, data en booleaans
• hoofdstuk 11: Transformaties: arrays of reeksen
• Hoofdstuk 12: Exporteren van je dataset

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