Moultrie Creek Online Historical Society

I manage a web site for a small veterans association and one of the biggest challenges I’ve had working with volunteers on organizational projects is compatible software. While most of my associates use Windows-based computers, I use a Mac [and now a Linux system, but that's another story]. They have any number of word processing systems on their machines and often their photo-editing software is the package that came with their digital camera. Just getting a couple of paragraphs posted on the web site can be a time-consuming effort.

Today there is a growing collection of open source software that is not only free to use, but easy to learn and many even are available for Windows, Mac and Linux systems. This article will introduce you to several applications that could be quite useful within your association.

The term “open source” describes a growing collection of applications that have been built by groups of people - many of them volunteers. These applications are licensed to users in such a way that you can use them at no charge. Yes, this is an over-simplified definition but it gives you an idea of how open source works. The Linux operating system (OS) is one of the largest open source projects. Anyone who wants to get involved can help in the development of Linux - from programming to project management to documentation. Because it is “open” to all, everyone [everyone who understands programming, that is] can see exactly how it’s built. As a result, problems with the application - bugs, security issues, etc. - are often found and fixed in a relatively short period of time.

Linux has been known as the “geek” operating system. Until recently you needed to be pretty experienced in computer stuff to do much with it. Things have changed - dramatically - and Linux now sports a pretty face and easy manner. There are more and more low cost computers in the marketplace today using Linux and other open source applications to help keep the costs down.

Regardless of the operating system, your experience is influenced more by the applications than the OS. You may already be using the Firefox browser and if you aren’t, you should take a look at it. An impressive office application suite is also available in OpenOffice.org. Both applications include versions for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Firefox is my browser of choice and a researcher’s dream. The tabbed browsing makes my online research efforts so much easier to manage. I also use OpenOffice.org because it works on both my operating systems and - even more important - it supports the open document format [see Let's Talk Standards at Family Matters for more information on open document format]. Other useful applications include GIMP, a sophisticated photo/image editing program; Scribus, a comprehensive desktop publisher; PDFCreator, which creates portable document format (PDF) documents [Windows only]; and ClamAV, an antivirus scanning tookit. Wikipedia maintains a comprehensive catalog at their Free Software Portal.

So, what is the down side? If there is one, it would be technical support. Some of these applications - like Firefox, GIMP and OpenOffice.org - are widely used and have significant support communities built around them. You’re quite likely to find books and magazine articles providing howto information for these apps at your local bookstore. For most open source applications, your best support options are online - at the application’s site or associated support sites you’ll find electronic manuals, video tutorials, user forums and blogs offering all kinds of technical support.

Finding software is the first step. Open source applications can help you overcome the “I can’t afford it” and “It doesn’t work on my system” hurdles. Sure, there will be other issues to address in your effort to get everyone working together on a project, but it’s sure nice to know you have some good, affordable options.

For years the genealogy community has posted transcribed records online as text files. There were two big reasons for this - limited disk space and software compatibility. Disk storage was a premium for both the big sites like Rootsweb and our personal sites. Graphic files are much larger than text files and would suck up all the available storage space. Then there’s software. We all have our software preferences in operating systems (Windows, Mac or Linux) and office systems (Microsoft, WordPerfect or OpenOffice.org). If you transcribed an obituary in Microsoft Word on a Windows computer, chances were good I couldn’t open it on my Mac computer using the Pages word processor. What did all of us have in common? The ability to open and edit text files.

Times have changed and we have a lot more options now. Although some of the big repositories still require text files, the public prefers original records to transcriptions and formatted text to plain. Disk space is cheaper and Web hosting packages are offering more for less. And, thanks to the Portable Document Format (PDF) developed by Adobe, it doesn’t matter what software was used to create the document (or scanned original).

Consider the basic cemetery inventory - four or five columns of information on each plot within a cemetery.  Sure, people are thrilled to get their hands on that information.  But, what if you included a map, photos from the cemetery and hyperlinked names within the inventory to other available content for that individual?  How much value have you added to that simple inventory document?  PDF documents let you do that.

First you create your document - our cemetery inventory for example - in your favorite software. Add the formatting, colors, images, maps and hyperlinks you want to include. Then, using a PDF creation application, you convert your original to a PDF file. It will look just like your original - same fonts, same layout, same colors - but it requires a PDF reader application to view it. Reader applications are free and available for all operating systems. Both Mac and Linux come with PDF readers pre-installed and if your Windows computer doesn’t have Adobe Reader pre-installed, you can download it for free.

While we can all read a PDF document and follow any hyperlinks included within the document, we generally cannot edit the contents. Some documents can even be searched for specific text. What a reader can do with a PDF document depends on how the original was created. For example, a PDF document created from a word processing document like Microsoft Word will have functional hyperlinks and can be searched, while a typewritten original that has been scanned and converted to PDF will not. A scanned document is a graphic snapshot of the original and while it may look exactly like the word processing version, it has no editing capabilities. That is true even after it’s converted to PDF.

Just how difficult is it to create a PDF document? If you can print a document, you can make a PDF. It depends on the PDF creation software you use, but the creation process is that simple. So, let’s talk software.

PDF Creation Software

The most comprehensive - and most expensive - PDF creation application is Adobe’s Acrobat. Acrobat Standard costs $299 and other editions are even more expensive. It does have lots of features including OCR (optical character recognition - the ability to convert scanned text into editable text), but unless you’re doing serious PDF creation and manipulation it’s probably overkill. Acrobat is available for both Windows and Mac systems.

At the other end of the cost spectrum is PDFcreator. This open source (as in no cost) Windows option installs as a print driver. To create a PDF document, you just print it with PDFcreator selected as your printer. This means that any application with a print feature can create a PDF document - genealogy software immediately comes to mind. A very nice howto article is available at linux.com (don’t ask).

There are several other low cost options for Windows users. Both CutePDF and Foxit offer additional PDF editing functionality. CutePDF offers both a free and a pro ($50) version. The free version requires you to also have Ghostscript installed. Foxit offers several packages. The Foxit Creator ($35) creates a virtual print driver - similar to PDFcreator. Foxit Page Organizer ($59) is needed to rearrange, split or merge PDF documents and the Organizer Pro ($99) also includes annotation features. The Foxit Editor ($99) allows you to combine PDF documents and make changes to displayed text.

Mac users have PDF creation built into the print command. At the bottom of the print dialog window are several options for “printing” to PDF. The latest version of Mac’s Preview application includes some basic editing functionality, but if you need more, you can purchase PDFpen beginning at $49.95.

Linux users have several open source options. CUPS (Common Unix Printing System), provided in many Linux distributions, can export to PDF. PDF Editor provides basic editing tools.

You’ll also find that other applications are including PDF generation as a feature in their software. OpenOffice.org [an open source office suite that requires an article of its own to completely describe] provides PDF creation features in all its applications, as does WordPerfect Office ($120 and up).  Check your favorite applications to see if PDF capabilities are included in them.

UPDATE: Mac users have another option for manipulating PDF documents.  PDFLab is a freeware application with tools for merging and splitting PDF files.  MacApper has the details on this application and its capabilities.

Many historical and genealogical societies publish newsletters. How much does it cost you to have your newsletter printed, collated, folded and stapled? Do you just order enough to distribute to your membership or do you order extras so you can sell back issues? If not, why not? Have you ever wondered if there’s a better way?

Today societies can take advantage of online publishing-on-demand services like Lulu to provide cost-effective publications AND the ability to provide back issues for sale without the hassle of storing and managing those sales.  Interested?  Here’s how it works.

The first step is to set up a free account at Lulu.  This gives you an online workspace within Lulu to manage your publishing projects - and access to all their publishing help and services.  Spend some time getting familiar with the platform and take advantage of all the helpful information on creating and formatting your project.  This will help you choose the size and binding option appropriate for your publication.

Now it’s time to create your newsletter.  You can choose the word processing application of your choice or a desktop publishing application if you want a more sophisticated layout.  Creating a template with the basic design standards - margins, fonts, styles, etc. - makes it easy to maintain  a consistent look across multiple issues.  Collect your articles, photos, news items and graphics then build your actual newsletter document. Once it’s passed all your review and editing processes, convert it to PDF [Portable Document Format] and you’re ready to upload it to your projects page at Lulu.

Lulu converts it into a print-ready file and you determine how you want to market it.  Depending on the size, binding option, number of pages and whether your printing in color or black and white, Lulu will provide you with the “cost” price for your publication.  This price includes printing, binding and managing all sales, shipping and customer service functions.  You choose how much markup to add to that price - of which Lulu will take a small percentage of those profits - and make the the publication available in your Lulu store.  You are responsible for promoting your publication, but Lulu will take care of the rest:

1. You send customers to your Lulu bookstore.
2. They browse your publications and select the ones they want.
3. Lulu manages the shopping and checkout process: taking the order, processing the payment and notifying the customer of their order status.
4. Lulu prints and ships the order to the customer.
5. If there are problems, returns or other issues, Lulu handles them.
6. You start receiving royalty checks for your profits.

Lulu also provides their publishers with a quantity discount for situations - like newsletters - where you want to distribute them yourself.  I can’t say this will be cheaper than your current solution, but it is worth taking a look.

Not sure if this is a solution for your newsletters?  You might start with a small project to see what Lulu can do.  If you get regular requests for previous issues, you might consider using Lulu to generate some revenue from your old newsletters.  It will only cost you some time and effort to scan and upload them to your Lulu workspace - even less if you still have the electronic versions.  Spend a little more time on the description of each issue’s contents so the search engines can zero in on surnames, events and places and your newsletter now has global reach.

Will your organization get rich off this project?  Probably not, but considering the limited amount of cost and effort involved, why wouldn’t you try it and see what happens?  With some additional marketing on your part, who knows what could happen!

The most difficult and time-consuming step in publishing is content creation and layout.  This isn’t going to change.  If you are putting all that effort into creating a serious publication, why not give it more than just one run.  Taking advantage of Lulu or other services like it will allow your association to build an archive of information that will grow in value as it grows in size.
Lulu isn’t the only publishing-on-demand service.  A list of other services can be found at the end of this post.  If you know of or have experience with other publishing services, we’d like to know about it.  Please leave a comment describing this service.

Publishing-on-demand services:

• Lulu
• Blurb
• iUniverse
• CreateSpace
• BookSurge