
While I did not get much work done this past weekend due to family commitments and lack of motivation because Jenna and I were in different states, I did have an opportunity to use some work time today on data cleaning. At NYU Libraries, where I work by day, there is a Community of Practice group that meets once a month to learn new skills in using OpenRefine, which is a “Java-based power tool that allows you to load data, understand it, clean it up, reconcile it, and augment it with data coming from the web. All from a web browser and the comfort and privacy of your own computer.” I have long suspected that this software would be very useful for ZineCat, so I am very excited that I got the opportunity to work in OpenRefine and also have an opportunity for monthly meetings and check ins as I learn this tool and use it to work on ZineCat.