Overview

This workshop is designed to be run on your laptop. First, you will need to download the data we use in the workshop. Then, you need to install some software. After following the instructions on this page, you should have everything you need to participate fully in the workshop!

Software

Spreadsheet program

• To interact with spreadsheets, we can use LibreOffice, Microsoft Excel, Gnumeric, OpenOffice.org, or other programs. Commands may differ a bit between programs, but the general ideas for thinking about spreadsheets are the same. For this workshop, we recommend using either Microsoft Excel (paid software) or LibreOffice (free and open source). Other spreadsheet programs may not have all of the features we will be exploring in this workshop.

• To install LibreOffice, go to their download page. The website should automatically select the correct option for your operating system. Click the “Download” button. You will go to a page that asks about a donation, but you don’t need to make one. Your download should begin automatically. Once the installer is downloaded, double click on it (you may need to open your Downloads folder) and LibreOffice should install.

OpenRefine

• OpenRefine is a Java program that runs on your local machine (not on the cloud). Although it displays in your browser, no web connection is needed and your data remains local. You need to have a ‘Java Runtime Environment’ (JRE) installed on your computer to run OpenRefine. If you don’t already have one installed then you can download and install from http://java.com by going to the site and clicking “Free Java Download”.

• To install OpenRefine, go to their download page. From the download page, select either “Windows kit”, “Mac kit”, or “Linux kit” - depending on your operating system - and follow the instructions next to your download link. This lesson has been tested with all versions of OpenRefine up to the latest tested version, 3.2. If you are using an older version, it is recommended you upgrade to the latest tested version. After installing, you can delete the installer .dmg file.

• You may get an error message: “OpenRefine.app can’t be opened because it is from an unidentified developer.” If you get this message, open your system preferences and click “Security & Privacy”. You will see a message “OpenRefine.app was blocked from opening because it is from an unidentified developer.” Click “Open Anyway” and “Yes”. OpenRefine should open in your default web browser.

• OpenRefine does not support Internet Explorer or Edge. Please use Firefox, Chrome or Safari instead.

Python and Jupyter Notebooks

• Python is a popular language for scientific computing, and great for general-purpose programming as well. For this workshop we use Python version 3.x. Installing all of its scientific packages individually can be a bit difficult, so we recommend an all-in-one installer. We will use Anaconda or Miniconda. They both use Conda, the main difference is that Anaconda comes with a lot of packages pre-installed. With Miniconda you will need to install the required packages. We recommend using the Anaconda installation instructions.

Anaconda installation

Download and install Anaconda. Remember to choose the installer for Python 3.x. Anaconda does not include the plotting package plotnine. To install this package, open your terminal application and type:

conda install -c conda-forge plotnine

Miniconda installation

Miniconda is a “light” version of Anaconda. If you install and use Miniconda you will also need to install the workshop packages.

Download and install Miniconda following the instructions. Remember to choose the installer for Python 3.x.

From your terminal application, type:

conda list

To install the packages we’ll be using in the workshop, type:

conda install -y numpy pandas matplotlib jupyter
conda install -c conda-forge plotnine

After installing either Anaconda or Miniconda and the workshop packages, launch a Jupyter notebook by typing this command from the terminal:

jupyter notebook

The notebook should open automatically in your browser. If it does not or you wish to use a different browser, open this link: http://localhost:8888.

For a brief introduction to Jupyter Notebooks, please consult our Introduction to Jupyter Notebooks page.

Congratulations! You are now ready for the workshop!