Factsheet
| Resource reviewed | |
|---|---|
| Title | OpenRefine |
| Editors | Google, Inc. & OpenRefine contributors |
| URI | https://openrefine.org |
| Publication Date | 2010-2025 |
| Date of last access | 30.06.2025 |
| Reviewer | |
|---|---|
| Name |  Küster, Marthe |
| Affiliation | Humboldt Universität zu Berlin |
| Place | Berlin |
| marthe.kuester.1@hu-berlin.de | |
| General information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Software type
Software tool: A “Tool” is broadly defined as a computational application to be used for accomplishing one task or a number of related tasks in the process of digital scholarly editing.
Virtual Reseaerch Environment (VRE): An “environment” is defined as a platform on which various tools (independent or not) are working as an integrated whole in order to perform a series of tasks or to cover the entire workflow.
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What type of software is it?
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Software tool |
| Identification of the environment
Operating system: e.g. for stand-alone applications
Web browser: for web-based applications, web-services, and APIs
Another application: i.e., a plugin
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On which platform runs the tool?
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Web browser |
| Purpose |
For what purpose was the tool developed?
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developed to accomplish a general task |
| Funding |
Which is the financial model of the tool?
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Free/open |
| Maturity |
What is the development stage of the tool?
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Release |
| Methods and implementation | ||
| Programming Language |
Which programming languages and technologies are used?
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Java |
| Reuse |
Does the tool reuse portions of other existing software?
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| Input format |
Which input formats are supported?
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.xml, .xml/tei, .txt, .csv, .html, .json, .rdf |
| Output format |
Which output formats are supported?
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.xml, .xml/tei, .txt, .csv, .html, .json, .rdf |
| Encoding |
Which character encoding formats are supported?
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latin-1, utf-8, utf-16 |
| Encoding preprocessing |
Is a pre-processing conversion included?
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| Dependencies |
Does the documentation list dependencies on other software, libraries or hardware?
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| Dependencies installation |
If yes, is the software handling the installation of dependencies during the general installation process (you don’t have to install them manually before the installation)?
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| Documentation and support | ||
| Documentation |
Is documentation and/or a manual available? (tool website, wiki, blog, documentation, or tutorial)
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| Documentation format |
Which format has the documentation?
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readme, .html, .pdf |
| Documentation parts |
Which of the following sections does the documentation contain?
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‘Getting Started’ section (installation and configuration), Step-by-step instructions, Examples, Troubleshooting (a selection of possible error messages and related solutions), FAQ, Support, API documentation (if relevant) |
| Documentation language |
In what languages is the documentation available?
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English |
| Support |
Is there a method to get active support from the developer(s) or from the community?
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| From of support |
Which form of support is offered?
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Forum, Mailing-list |
| Issue tracker |
Is it possible to post bugs or issue using issue tracker mechanisms?
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| Usability and sustainability | ||
| Build and install |
Grade how straightforward it is to build or install the tool on a supported platform:
|
straightforward |
| Tests |
Is there a test suite, covering the core functionality in order to check that the tool has been correctly built or installed?
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| Portability and interoperability |
On which platforms can the tool/software be deployed?
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Linux/BSD/Unix, Mac OS X, Windows |
| Devices |
On which devices can the tool/software be deployed?
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Desktop, Laptop |
| Browsers |
If the tool is web-based: On which browsers can the tool/software be deployed?
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Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari |
| Plugins |
If the tool is web-based: Does the tool rely on browser plugins?
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| API |
Is there an API for the tool?
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| Code |
Is the source code open?
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| License |
Under what license is the tool released?
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Other: BSD Clause-3 license |
| Credits |
Does the software make adequate acknowledgement and credit to the project contributors?
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| Registered |
Is the tool/software registered in a software repository?
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| Possible contribution |
If yes, can you contribute to the software development via the repository/development platform?
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| Analysability, extensibility, reusability of the code | ||
| Analysability |
Can the code be analyzed easily (is it structured, commented, following standards)?
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| Extensibility |
Can the code be extended easily (because there are contribution mechanisms, attribution for changes and backward compatibility)?
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| Reusability |
Can the code be reused easily in other contexts (because there are appropriate interfaces and/or a modular architecture)?
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| Security and privacy |
Does the software provide sufficient information about the treatment of the data entered by the users?
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| Supportability and maintenance |
Is there information available whether the tool will be supported currently and in the future?
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| Citability |
Does the tool supply citation guidelines (e.g. using the Citation File Format)?
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| User interaction, GUI and visualization | ||
| User profile |
What kind of users are expected?
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Humanities researcher, Computer scientist, Digital humanist, General public |
| User interaction |
What kind of user interactions are expected?
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Reading, Text editing, Text analysis, Searching, Visualization, Comparing, Compiling |
| User Interface |
What kind of interface does the tool provide?
(cf. Catalogue 4.2 and 0.1.1)
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Graphical User Interface (GUI) |
| Visualization |
Does the tool provide a particular visualizations (in terms of analysis) of the input and/or the output data?
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| User empowerment |
Is the user allowed to customize the functioning of the tool and the output configuration?
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| Accessibility |
Does the tool provide particular features for improving accessibility, allowing „people with the widest range of characteristics and capabilities” to use it?
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| Personnel | |
|---|---|
| Editors | Google, Inc. & OpenRefine contributors |