OpenOffice: What libraries need to know An Webinar Thursday, March 18, 2010 12-1 pm Laura Solomon...

In fopeople webinars are supported by the U.S. Institu te of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, admin istered in Californ ia by the State Librarian.

OpenOffice:What libraries need to know

An Webinar

Thursday, March 18, 201012-1 pm

Laura Solomonlaura@designforthelittleguy.com

Agenda

What is OpenOffice.org? Specifications Components Overview Implementing OpenOffice in Libraries Live Demo of Writer

What is OpenOffice.org?

URL and product name Comparable to other office suites Supports many languages Free!

Open source

A little history

Started out as StarOffice Bought by Sun in 1999 Went OS in 2000 Is intended to compete directly with MS Office

Platform Compatibility

Windows Linux Solaris OS X

File formats

ODF Legacy formats Microsoft Office

Portable!

OO.o and MS Office interoperability

MS Office-->OpenOffice.org OpenOffice.org-->MS Office

Reviews

“But for the first time, I'm ready to recommend this new version as a viable alternative to Microsoft's offering.

It still has rough edges, but it has an impressive feature set, a generally lucid interface, pure open-source credentials, and - in the current economic

climate - the decisive advantage of being absolutely free.”--PC Magazine

Components

Extensions

Templates

Clip Art

Dictionaries

What about MS Publisher?

?

Writer

Chameleon-like customization

What's missing?

Calc

Undo sheet deletes

Sophisticated functions

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alist/2047764625/

Handling early centuries

<1900

Pivot charts

Slow?

Impress

Missing pieces

Ready-made templates Clip art

Base

Connecting

Draw

Best for...

OO.0 vs. the Cloud

Can they co-exist?

Tech support options

Paid support

Books

Things to think about

Pushing it out

Saving

Training

Pros

Free! Not a huge shift from MS Comparable functionality Huge developer community Compatible with more file formats

Cons

Lack of brand recognition Interface isn't comparable to Office 2007 Additional training likely required

OO.o vs. MS Office: conclusions

Thank you!

Laura Solomonlaura@designforthelittleguy.com

Twitter:@laurasolomonBlog: www.meanlaura.com