This page looks at issues around PDF that could be discussed by people working with the social economy and co-operatives.

Data

There are various forms of database on co-ops and other organisations.
Co-ordinating this into one database for publication can be difficult. Any report output that could be printed could also be presented as PDF. Any set of PDFs can be catalogued and searched. There is a version of the free Reader with the search feature but it is quite a large download. It would be good to identify sources of data and discuss how to work with PDF.

Publishing

Follow the links on 'downloads' and 'previously' to see a selection of texts published in PDF. As the Reader is more widely available it will be easier for this sort of publishing to happen. So far no charges have been made. eBooks through Amazon use a security measure and credit card system whereby a file is restricted to a particular computer. There could be some use made of the password protection if enough trust existed about how the password was passed on. It could be known to members of an organisation or mailed to people who bought minimal amounts of something. Experimentation would be useful.

Gifts in Kind

In the USA Adobe offer software through 'Gifts in Kind' for non-profit organisations. The costs are roughly enough to cover admin for a CD. So far as I know there is little uptake on this in the UK though it probably involves not much more than finding the forms of words which present UK projects in terms familiar in the US. This would need some organisation prepared to investigate. Follow 'Philanthropy' on the corporate bit at www.adobe.com

Information on two related projects

Acrobat Services
http://www.acrobat-services.co.uk

This is a project to promote Acrobat and continues some ideas from IT Consumers, people who used to support database work at London ICOM. Some of the services promoted are from the social economy but more would be welcome. There is a link with the Acrobat User Forum and a meeting at a straight ahead commercial occasion- Digital Solutions at Excel. However the discussion is intended as open and people from co-ops could benefit as much as anyone. Acrobat Services will continue to try to promote Social Economy Acrobat as a page. Training or development work that took much time would probably be through Exetreme.com (see below) Please link to this site if you have a suitable page. You could use either graphic. Also please send in relevant PDF files or suggest links.

Exetreme.com

Exetreme.com is a web design co-op. So far most work has been in html but the intention is to look for more work with Flash and PDF. The site for the Centre for Evidence-Based Social Services is closest to the sort of site suitable for organisations. The related site - Be Evidence Based - has document management including some PDFs.

Exetreme.com was a member of the Adobe Fast Start program which provides us full information on the corporate uses of Acrobat such as group collaboration through online review and markup. eForms are the central issue and Reader Extensions is available as server software. This is still expensive but is a useful direction for people using a browser.

This could well be the point at which the few people who read this far finally start to click somewhere else but if you either are or know someone who deals with forms and databases please get in touch if online forms in PDF format are of any interest. One perk from the Fast Start program is some sample software which includes one copy of Messenger. this could be on loan for a suitable site prepared to try it out. Requires NT, network and scanner and much communication. Please get in touch if interested.

Will Pollard

will@exetreme.com