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Cleaning Spreadsheet Data with OpenRefine

This guide accompanies the Galter Health Sciences Library class of the same name, or can be used on its own to learn the basic functions of OpenRefine. The class and guide are adapted from Library Carpentry OpenRefine, Copyright 2016-2019

Open a Project

Once OpenRefine is downloaded, you can click on the blue diamond icon to launch it. First a small Java window will appear, which can be minimized and kept running in the background. Next the program itself will load in your default browser window.

Screenshot of the OpenRefine Create Project screen

You can open files stored on your computer in many different formats, including CSV, Excel, JSON, and XML. If you've downloaded the CSV file for these exercises from Google Drive, you can browse and open that file here.

You can also type in Web addresses of files. When your files have been selected or typed in, click Next.