[plug] Fwd: Australia's history archived [through the use of XML and] OpenOffice.org

[Chris Caston]

I love that line:

"Who
knows what platform most people will be using in 30 years time? So if
you
have a Linux machine, for example, you should have equal access."

Being 22 I should still be around in 30 years so I can see how well
Linux will achieve saturation.

regards,

Chris

On Wed, 2003-10-15 at 08:09, James Devenish wrote:
> I don't usually post news, but there has been some discussion of OO.o on
> this list recently.
> ________________________________________________________________________
> 
> Australia's history archived in OpenOffice.org
> Steven Deare
> LinuxWorld
> 14/10/2003 14:20:32
> http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php?id=1991153367&fp=16&fpid=0
> 
> Australia's history will be viewed digitally in the OpenOffice.org office
> suite as part of plans to preserve the quality and accessibility of
> government documents.
> 
> The National Archives of Australia (NAA) is using the open source software
> to help store and display archived documents from government agencies.
> 
> The decision to use OpenOffice.org came last November, at the beginning of
> a project to develop methods for preserving digital records, said
> Perth-based assistant project manager Simon Davis.
> 
> The Agency to Researcher Digital Preservation Project arose from a policy
> change in 2000 which gave the NAA full custody of to-be-retained digital
> records from government agencies.
> 
> The project team decided that using proprietary data formats for archiving
> would not ensure files could be opened and replicated on the computer
> systems of the future.
> 
> The NAA must archive some documents for 30 years, and the licensing costs
> and IP issues associated with proprietary software were deemed too costly.
> 
> "Open source is really, really important to us because over time it means
> we can retain data presentation," said Davis.
> 
> "Cross platform development is really important, because we can't say you
> must have a Windows machine to access this file [in the archives]. Who
> knows what platform most people will be using in 30 years time? So if you
> have a Linux machine, for example, you should have equal access."
> 
> The introduction of OpenOffice.org was helped by the NAA's decision to use
> XML as the format to which digital documents are converted for
> preservation.
> 
> Davis said the project team then developed an XML tool for converting and
> viewing archived documents, XENA (XML Electronic Normalising of Archives).
> 
> Based on open source code libraries, the Java-based GUI tool converts
> documents to XML form.
> 
> "It can also render any XML schema it supports, and supports plug-ins to
> help it work with more file types," he said.
> 
> Development of XENA involved writing viewers for many file types, including
> obsolete ones, but OpenOffice.org reduced some of this work.
> 
> "We don't use XENA for viewing word [processing, spreadsheet, drawing and
> presentation] documents because we haven't written a viewer that can show
> documents as well as OpenOffice.org," said Davis.
> 
> For these documents, XENA creates a basic XML document and adds metadata.
> XENA then sends content to OpenOffice.org, which converts the binary data
> and sends XENA back the XML markup. XENA then "calls" OpenOffice.org to
> display the document, said Davis.
> 
> The NAA will soon convert legacy archives via OpenOffice.org's XML format,
> which will be "a significant amount of work", said Davis.
> 
> However, while this is the best way to display documents at present, the
> NAA was not obliged to use OpenOffice.org forever, he said.
> 
> The NAA was "some way off" using OpenOffice.org on their desktop PCs, for
> instance, he said.
> 
> "When the next version of [Microsoft] Office is released, the question will
> be how well is XML support documented. Can they say there are the 300 tags
> and if you want to manipulate, this is how you do it," he said.
> 
> "If Microsoft's XML is fully documented, then great, we might keep them and
> OpenOffice.org both in the digital repository," he said.
> 
> The Mitchell, ACT-based secure digital repository houses master copies of
> archived digital documents. The smallest of the four servers in the two
> purpose-built rooms can hold three quarters of a terabyte, according to
> Davis.
> 
> To help the NAA's XML strategy, Davis joined the Organization for the
> Advancement of Structured Information Standards' Open Office XML Format
> Technical Committee last year. The Committee consists of companies and
> individuals around the world that communicate via a weekly teleconference
> to further OpenOffice.org's XML capabilities.
> 
> "Sun [Microsystems] asked us to get involved. Basically my role is to make
> sure it [the technical developments] suits the NAA, and help archival
> purposes," said Davis.
> 
> "We'd hope many software vendors will use OpenOffice.org's XML in the
> future, it's really good being fully documented," he said.
> 
> Davis said that before the project ends "around June", the NAA will
> continue adding to XENA before making it available for download under the
> GPL "sometime before Christmas". The application would be of benefit to
> archival institutions, as well as private companies, around the world, he
> said.
> 
> Davis estimated the general public would have to wait about five years
> until archives in OpenOffice.org format would be available via the NAA's
> Web site. http://www.naa.gov.au/

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