WEBDATA201: Collecting Web Data

Web scraping is a technique for extracting information from websites. This can be done manually but it is usually faster, more efficient and less error-prone if it can be automated.

Web scraping allows you to convert non-tabular or poorly structured data into a usable, structured format, such as a .csv file or spreadsheet. But scraping is about more than just acquiring data: it can help you track changes to data online, and help you archive data. In short, it’s a skill worth learning.

So join us for this web scraping workshop to learn web scraping, using the researcher-focused training modules from the highly regarded Software Carpentry Foundation.

• The concept of structured data
• The use of XPath queries on HTML document
• How to scrape data using browser extensions
• How to scrape using Python and Scrapy
• How to automate the scraping of multiple web pages

A good knowledge of the basic concepts and techniques in Python. Consider taking our Learn to Program: Python and Python for Research courses to come up to speed beforehand.