This guide provides an overview of text mining and different text mining methods. It also shares several U of I-supported tools and software for researchers at all levels of experience.
The following departments and projects on campus use text mining and other forms of data analysis. They each provide assistance and resources for text mining.
CIRSS is a center within the School of Information Sciences that focuses on information problems in scientific and scholarly research and how digital information can advance work in these areas. Digital Humanities is a large area of interest to CIRSS concentration in scientific communication.
CITL is a campus initiative that provides consultations and workshops for popular software used by researchers and students. They provide specialized services for ATLAS.ti help. To set up a consultation or request assistance email them at citl-data@illinois.edu.
The Cline Center's mission involves "advancing human flourishing around the world by using extreme-scale analysis of global news coverage to extract structured insight out of unstructured information." The Center investigates political and social issues around the world, including civil unrest, through development and use of text analysis tools and by supporting fellowship programs and other forms of public engagement on campus.
The HTRC is the research arm of the HathiTrust Digital Library (HTDL). The HathiTrust Consortium is a multi-institutional partnership that seeks to preserve the cultural record by digitizing books, serials, and other forms of information and making them available digitally through the HTDL. The Hathi Trust Research Center allows researchers to create and use data (worksets) from public domain materials for text mining and analysis.
The Humanities Research Institute promotes interdisciplinary study in the humanities, arts, and social sciences at the University of Illinois. HRI offers graduate and faculty fellowships for humanities studies, as well as hosts lectures, symposia, and discussions on humanities issue.
The Illinois Informatics Institute is an on campus organization devoted to supporting "research projects that involve applications of computing and information in areas from the natural sciences, engineering and business to the humanities and social sciences." The Illinois Informatics Institute offers several educational programs including an undergraduate minor in informatics, MS in bioinformatics, and PhD in Informatics.
The RDS is a campus-wide resource to help researchers access best practices for data management and comply with funding-related data policies and standards.
The Scholarly Commons Library is located on the 2nd floor of the Main library in room 220. They provide provide research support for digital projects, and their space has ample software available on computers for university affiliates. The Scholarly Commons also provides many numeric and spatial data resources for University of Illinois researchers, including assistance in procuring, processing, and analyzing data.
TAPoR is a free directory of text mining, analysis, and visualization tools. You can search and browse for tools, read reviews, find resources related to specific tools, and tag and comment on tools you have used.
"Text Mining and Analytics" class offered by the University of Illinois as part of Coursera's Data Mining Specialization (available for free or as a paid certification program).
The HTRC is the research arm of the HathiTrust Digital Library (HTDL). The HathiTrust Consortium is a multi-institutional partnership that seeks to preserve the cultural record by digitizing books, serials, and other forms of information and making them available digitally through the HTDL. The Hathi Trust Research Center allows researchers to create and use data (worksets) from public domain materials for text mining and analysis.
UIUC professor Ted Underwood uses text mining and analytics to study 18th/19th century literature. He posts about his research, including methods and data, on his blog.
Digital Research Tools (formerly DiRT and now Bamboo Dirt) is an index that collects information about tools and resources for all types of digital projects. This is a great place to start to find tools for text mining projects.