OpenOffice:

What libraries need to know An Webinar Thursday, March 18, 2010 12-1 pm

Laura Solomon

[email protected]

Infopeople webinars are supported by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.

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 Solomon

[email protected]

Twitter:@laurasolomon Blog: www.meanlaura.com