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https://github.com/codeforkjeff/refine_viaf

No longer maintained. Please use conciliator instead.
https://github.com/codeforkjeff/refine_viaf

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No longer maintained. Please use conciliator instead.

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README 

        

**IMPORTANT!** Please use

[conciliator](https://github.com/codeforkjeff/conciliator) instead,

which does what refine_viaf does, plus more. This project is no longer

being maintained.



refine_viaf

===========



refine_viaf implements a [VIAF](http://viaf.org) (Virtual

International Authority File) Reconciliation Service for

[OpenRefine](http://openrefine.org). This is used for resolving many

types of names (ie. persons, organizations, geographic regions) to

standard IDs representing those entities.



This project was rewritten in Java in Dec 2015. For more info, see

[this page](http://codefork.com/blog/index.php/2015/12/10/a-major-update-to-refine-viaf/). The

old version written in Python is no longer being maintained, but can

be found in the

[python-deprecated branch](https://github.com/codeforkjeff/refine_viaf/tree/python-deprecated).



Features

--------



* Support for the following types of names provided by VIAF: Corporate

  Names, Geographic Names, Personal Names, Works, Expressions



* "Proxy mode" to retrieve IDs used by source institutions, instead of

  VIAF IDs. (NOTE: hyperlinks to source record pages in OpenRefine are

  supported for BNE, DNB, ICCU, JPG, LC, NDL, SELIBR, SUDOC, and

  WKP. Links are BROKEN for BNC, BNF, DBC, and NUKAT. For all other

  sources, the links will take you to the VIAF page.)



* Good performance (uses threads; stable memory usage; caches results)



* Super easy to run



Public Server

-------------



If your needs are low and you can't or don't want to run this software

yourself, you can use the public server at

. Visit that address for more

instructions.



Running the Service on Your Computer

------------------------------------



Install Java 1.7 or greater if you don't already have it.



Download the .jar file for the

[latest release](https://github.com/codeforkjeff/refine_viaf/releases). Alternatively,

you can download the source code tarball or clone this repository, and

build the .jar file using maven.



Run this command:



```

java -jar refine_viaf-1.5.2.jar

```



That's it! You should see some messages as the application starts

up. Now you're ready to configure OpenRefine to use the service. When

you're done with it, hit Ctrl-C to quit the application.



Configuring OpenRefine

----------------------



1. In OpenRefine, chose a column of names you want to reconcile, and

   select "Reconcile" and "Start Reconciling..." in the column

   pull-down menu.



2. Click "Add Standard Service..."



3. To reconcile against names from any VIAF source, type in:



    ```

    http://localhost:8080/reconcile/viaf

    ```



    To reconcile against a specific VIAF source, append its code to

    the end of the path. For example, to search only names from the

    Bibliothèque nationale de France, type in:

    

    ```

    http://localhost:8080/reconcile/viaf/BNF

    ```



    To retrieve the IDs used by source institutions, rather than VIAF

    IDs, use "proxy mode." For example, to search only names from the

    Library of Congress and retrieve their IDs, type in:

    

    ```

    http://localhost:8080/reconcile/viafproxy/LC

    ```



4. Follow the instructions on the dialog box to start reconciling

   names.



Advanced Usage

--------------



To build from the source code, install maven and type:



```

mvn package

```



If you want to host this software on a server for long-term usage or

if you want to enable logging for debugging purposes, take a look at

`run.sh` for some helpful options.



You can change several run-time options (including the service name

that appears in OpenRefine and turning caching on/off) by editing the

`refine_viaf.properties` file.



Resources

---------



Specification for the Reconciliation Service API:



https://github.com/OpenRefine/OpenRefine/wiki/Reconciliation-Service-Api



This code drew inspiration from these other projects:



* https://github.com/rdmpage/phyloinformatics

* https://github.com/mikejs/reconcile-demo/



Do you use this thing??

-----------------------



If so, please take a few seconds to leave a comment on

[this page](http://codefork.com/blog/index.php/2015/12/10/a-major-update-to-refine-viaf/). Hearing

from users really motivates me to continue improving this project.



License

-------



This code is distributed under a GNU General Public License. See the

file LICENSE for details.