This week's podcast episode is all about the intersection of open source digital tools and public history. I talk about ways that digital history and open source communities can enhance public history practice. I also chat about my favorite open source public history tools. What open source tools or platforms do you use as part … Continue reading Historical Reminiscents EP 20: Open Source Public History
My most recent post focusing on the open source software alternatives available to heritage organizations can be seen over at the Active History Group Blog. The post focuses primarily upon the benefits of using open source exhibit design and photo manipulation tools such as Google Sketchup, GIMP, and Inkscape.
Fotopedia is a collaborative open source photo encyclopedia. The site is an interesting blend of the knowledge of Wikipedia combined with the expansive array of image of flickr. The emphasis is more on the side of the photos, however each collection of photos is accompanied by a brief encyclopedia article. The number of photos and … Continue reading Collaborative Photo Encyclopedia
Recently Scribd opened an online store which is attempting to become the itunes of books. Up until recently Scribd has been completely open source, this past Monday the service began charging for it's services. Scribd will now keep 20% of each sale, while the remaining 80% will be sent to the owners of the written … Continue reading itunes for books?
Open source is finally gaining some governmental approval. From January 20th to February 19th 2009, Public Works and Government Services Canada is accepting submissions of "no-charge licensed software", also known as open source software. Some open source advocates are hoping this new found acceptance of open source software, is a sign of a movement towards … Continue reading Government Endorsement of Open Source Alternatives
Photoshop has long been used my museum and public history professionals. It is often used to touch up digitized photos, to adjust for glare, colour changes, etc. It is also used to alter images which are to be used online, to make them more visually appealing. However, one of the major problems with photoshop is … Continue reading Photoshop on a budget.