Lesson plan

OpenDocument Format Alliance

The Open Document Format Alliance (ODF Alliance) was a Washington, D.C.–based lobbying organization established by IBM, Sun Microsystems and SIIA to "promote and advance the use of OpenDocument Format (ODF) as the primary document format for governments" Although originally focused on promotion of ODF "via legislation or by executive policy decision", the ODF Alliance also did extensive PR and lobbying in opposition to the Microsoft-backed Office Open XML standard. Founded by IBM, Sun and 33 other companies and organizations on March 3, 2006, the Alliance has more than 500 members. However, funding sources are not itemized in the organization's 2007 annual report, so membership financial participation is unclear. The ODF Alliance does not give a physical location on their website, but from documents filed with the State of New York, the organization appears to be headquartered on the 6th floor of 1090 Vermont Avenue NW in Washington, DC 20005, sharing offices with the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA), one of the original backers of the ODF Alliance.

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Article summary

The Open Document Format Alliance (ODF Alliance) was a Washington, D.C.–based lobbying organization established by IBM, Sun Microsystems and SIIA to "promote and advance the use of OpenDocument Format (ODF) as the primary document format for governments" Although originally focused on promotion of ODF "via legislation or by executive policy decision", the ODF Alliance also did extensive PR and lobbying in opposition to the Microsoft-backed Office Open XML standard. Founded by IBM, Sun and 33 other companies and organizations on March 3, 2006, the Alliance has more than 500 members. However, funding sources are not itemized in the organization's 2007 annual report, so membership financial participation is unclear. The ODF Alliance does not give a physical location on their website, but from documents filed with the State of New York, the organization appears to be headquartered on the 6th floor of 1090 Vermont Avenue NW in Washington, DC 20005, sharing offices with the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA), one of the original backers of the ODF Alliance.

Key claims

  1. date of foundation: 2006-03-03 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  2. members: 500 members — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  3. publication date: 2010 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the date of foundation is "2006-03-03". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. The record states that the members is "500 members". What evidence would count against this claim?
  4. The record states that the publication date is "2010". What evidence would count against this claim?
  5. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  6. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371281922

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.