Use of the ODF file format on the Research Council website

The Research Council will gradually be implementing the use of these open formats. The transition to the PDF format (for downloadable documents that are not to be changed by users) is nearly complete. The ODF format is being introduced for documents that at present are available in Microsoft's Word format (DOC).

Opening ODF files

In order to open ODF files, users must install software that supports the format.

The OpenOffice software  supports the ODF format and can be downloaded from the Internet free of charge (highly recommended). Web-based Google Docs also supports the format (somewhat limited).

Microsoft Office Word 2007 and Microsoft Office 2010 offers ODF support. 

Filename extensions

Note: Text documents in ODF-format have the filename extension .odt

PDF files have the filename extension .pdf and can be opened using Adobe Acrobat Reader (downloadable for free) or similar software. Microsoft offers a free add-in for Office that allows users to export and save documents to PDF-format.