MOOCs on Information Handling Skills

For Teaching , Learning and Research Digital document formats – Conversion and Storage

Dr. G. RATHINASABAPATHY, Ph.D.

University Librarian
Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University
Chennai – 600 051

ICAR- National Agricultural Higher Education Project on NKMC4AER

Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Hyderabad
MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research Introduction

• Welcome to PJTSAUs online course on Information Handling

Skills for Teaching, Learning and Research.
• In this lesson we shall discuss about various digital file
formats, conversion of files and online storage tools.
MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research

a) Doc, RTF, TIFF, CSV, XLS, PPT, PDF, JPEG, MPEG, MP3……

b) Document conversion tools – Word-to-Pdf, / Pdf-to-Word, etc.

c) File compression techniques – RAR, ZIP, etc

d) Online Document Storage - Google docs, Dropbox, SkyDrive, Evernote, etc.

 a) Digital document formats

a) Digital document formats

MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research

o A file format is a standard way that information is encoded for storage in

a computer file.
o It specifies how bits are used to encode information in a digital storage
medium.
o File formats may be either proprietary or free and may be either
unpublished or open.
o Different operating systems have traditionally taken different approaches
to determining a particular file's format
o One popular method used by many operating systems is to determine the
format of a file based on the end of its name, more specifically the letters
following the final period.
o This portion of the filename is known as the filename extension. For
example, HTML documents are identified by names that end
with .html (or .htm), and GIF images by .gif.
 a) Digital document formats

a) Digital document formats …

MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research

o Doc: An abbreviation of "document” is a filename extension for word

processing documents, most commonly in the proprietary Microsoft Word
Binary File Format
o RTF: The Rich Text Format is a proprietary document file format with
published specification developed by Microsoft Corporation
o TIFF: Tagged Image File Format, is a computer file format for
storing graphics images.
o CSV: comma-separated values file is a delimited text file that uses a
comma to separate values. A CSV file stores tabular data (numbers and
text) in plain text.
o XLS : is a spreadsheet file created by Microsoft Excel or exported by
another spreadsheet program, such as OpenOffice Calc or Apple Numbers.
o PPT : Is an editable slide show created by Microsoft PowerPoint or another
presentation program, such as OpenOffice Impress or Apple Keynote.
 a) Digital document formats

a) Digital document formats …

MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research

o PDF: Portable Document Format is developed by Adobe to

present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner
independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems.
o JPEG: Joint Photographic Experts Group is a commonly used method
of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images
produced by digital photography.
o MPEG: Moving Picture Experts Group is a working group of authorities that
was formed by ISO and IEC to set standards for audio and video
compression and transmission.
o MP3 is a file format commonly designates files containing an elementary
stream of MPEG-1 audio and video encoded data, without other
complexities of the MP3 standard.
MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research a) Digital document formats

Most common Text and Document file formats

.doc and .docx - Microsoft Word file.
.odt - OpenOffice Writer document file.
.pdf - PDF file.
.rtf - Rich Text Format.
.tex - A LaTeX document file.
.txt - Plain text file.
.wks and .wps- Microsoft Works file.
.wpd - WordPerfect document.
MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research a) Digital document formats

Most common Image File formats

JPEG/JFIF
JPEG 2000
Exif
TIFF
GIF
BMP
PNG
PPM, PGM, PBM, and PNM
WebP
MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research a) Digital document formats

Most common Video File Formats

.flv (Flash Video Format)
.avi (Audio-video interleave)
.mov (Quick Time format)
.mp4
.mpg
.wmv (Windows Media Video)
.3gp
 b) Document Conversion Tools

b) Document Conversion Tools

MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research

 We constantly transfer files but at some points, the

recipient may not have a compatible system that can
access the downloaded file.
 This problem is easily solved with a file conversion
utility when we’are capable of changing files into any
format needed.
 If a document is in Microsoft Word format, we can
change it to PDF using a file converter to make it usable
to those who don’’t have the Microsoft software.
 With better organization of our files, we can become
more productive and practical using the file conversion
utility.
 b) Document Conversion Tools

File Conversion Tools

MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research

 There are many online free file converters available to

convert files from one format to another.

 Word file can be converted into PDF and vice-versa. Many

free online tools available e.g.
https://www.wordtopdf.com/en/

 We can convert audio, video, image, document, archive,

presentation files into other formats using free online
converters e.g. https://www.freefileconvert.com
 b) Document Conversion Tools

c) File Compression Techniques

MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research

Transmission of bigger size files can be troublesome while

sharing them over Internet.

The solution to the above problem is compression of files.

Compression of files allows us to transmit files even if the

connection is with limited bandwidth.

If we compress the bigger size file into a smaller size file, we

can transmit the files without manipulating with the quality
of original stuff.

If the file size is smaller, the transmission will be faster.

 b) Document Conversion Tools

c) File Compression Techniques …

MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research

o The technology provides us a number of software to do

file compression very effectively.
o A compression software is the one which does this job for
us.
o Apart from compression, it can directly share our files
with multiple recipients and perform encryption of files
with passwords.
o There is a glut of proprietary as well as free file
compression software in the market.
o The ideal file compression software
 Easy to handle
 Amazing compression rate
 Ability to convert more number of file formats
 Able to extract different kinds of files
 c) File Compression Techniques

c) File Compression Techniques …

MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research

o Two widely used File Compression Software are:

 WinZip
 WinRAR

o WinZip is the eldest of all.

o It is priced.
o Though many open source software available, still there is a demand for
this software.
o The reason is that this software provides splitting of files according to the
media, cloud support and advanced file sharing options. Also comes with
highly responsive interface for different devices.
o Backup and security features are there to keep our files encrypted and
secure.
 c) File Compression Techniques
How to compress files using WinZip!
MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research

 Step 1- Download WinZip and launch the utility software on

your PC.
 Step 2- Go to the files panel and choose the files you want to
zip from your system/network or cloud service.
 Step 3- Click on the option saying, ‘Add to Zip’.
 Step 4- Now go to the Action panel and find option ‘Save as’.
 Step 5- Once you click on ‘Save as’, choose the location where
you want to keep it.

o The application also allows us to share the files directly from

the software.

o It comes with a bunch of exciting features such as Address

Book management for instant sharing, image format
converter, Slack support and enhanced UI.
 c) File Compression Techniques
WinRAR
MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research

o RAR archives are well known for its incredible levels

of compression.
o Most of the compression software can extract RAR
archives but cannot create them.
o WinRAR is considered as the best file compression
software which can do both extract and create
archives.
o Can be used to compress files in almost every
format possible.
o WinRAR provides 30-day trial version.
 c) File Compression Techniques
Open Source File Compression Software
MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research

7-Zip
o Most reputed program which is available for free of cost.
o Apart from a wide support for almost every format, 7-zip comes with
its own file compression format, 7z.
o It can compress huge files up to 16 billion gigabytes and that along
with high compression rates, the developer claims.
o The interface is very elementary, making it easy for users
o A Right-click will let user to extract, zip or view what’s inside the file.
o The only drawback of this zip compressor software is its ‘solid
compression’ process.
o It can be very slow at times.
 c) File Compression Techniques
Open Source File Compression Software…
MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research

Hamster Zip Archiver

o Attractive and easy-to-use interface
o Most convenient software to use.
o The drag and drop feature makes it a handy task for even those who
are not familiar with compression and decompression process.
o Offers cloud support such as DropBox, OneDrive, Google Drive or
Yandex disk with automatic creation of shareable link.
o It is a brilliant option for those who readily share files over the web.
o Currently available in 40 languages and has been installed in more
than 50 countries in the world which makes it a diverse software.
 c) File Compression Techniques
Open Source File Compression Software…
MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research

ZipGenius
o ZipGenius is a free file compression software
o It is fast and elegant all-purpose file manager tool for Windows
o One of the eldest compression utility tool
o It has strong abilities to handle more than 20 types of file
compression in several formats including ARC, CAB, RAR, ZIP,7-ZIP,
ARJ and others.
o An ideal file compression tool for novices as the User Interface is
effortless to navigate.
o The application comes with CZIP encryption feature, which simply
infix ZIP archives in a secured package that employs strong encryption
algorithms.
 c) File Compression Techniques
Open Source File Compression Software…
MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research

PeaZip
o Another Open Source File Compression Software
o It is not more popular than 7-zip
o Has clean interface and easy-to-use-file browser
o Available in a portable version which is totally a self-contained
software for archive management, therefore requiring no extra
installations.
o For security additions, it uses AES 256-based encryption and two-
factor authentication along with a password manager.
o PeaZip is a cross-platform software that can work with WinRAR to
provide full RAR support.
 c) File Compression Techniques
Open Source File Compression Software…
MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research

IZArc
o This file compression tool is Fast, Easy and Free.
o It is one of the most flexible compression tool available
o IZArc has quite straightforward to use and it is very usef friendly.
o It does not require any experience to use
o Has got extensive features
o Supports wide archive formats such as ACE, ARJ, MIM, MBF, ZIP, ZOO,
CAB, CDI, CPIO, etc.
o The tool also allows you easy to use drag and drop feature from and
to windows explorer.
o We can open CD image files here and convert files from one to
another with ease.
 c) File Compression Techniques
Summary
MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research

o We are living in an era which is digital where most of the things are
paperless and sharing files over the Internet has been vital process.
o The inbuilt compression and decompression functionalities of the
systems are having many limitations.
o Further, still we have bandwidth limitations even in metropolitan
cities due to various reasons.
o So, compression of files helps us greatly to transmit files across
networks easily in spite of many limitations.
o We have to identify the effective file compression software tool as
there are many available as open source software, to suit our
requirements
 d) Online Document Storage
d) Online Document Storage
MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research

Keeping a backup of our files on physical storage devices

such as external hard drives or USB flash drives are always
difficult to maintain. Similarly if we want to share a big file
through email, again there are a lot of limitations.

In this context, cloud storage provides a secure way to

remotely store our important data and also to share big
files.

Online storage solutions are usually provided using a large

network of virtual servers that come with tools for
managing files and organizing your virtual storage space.
 d) Online Document Storage

Online Document Storage

MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research

Google Drive
o It has a free storage limit of up to 15 GB.
o It syncs documents, spreadsheets, presentations,
and videos from your computer and mobile
devices.
o It connects to Google+ and Gmail for collaboration
and sharing.
o You can share up to 5 GB between Google Drive
and Google+ Photos.
o Available at https://drive.google.com
 d) Online Document Storage

Online Document Storage…

MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research

Dropbox is a secure place to keep

photos, documents, and videos that you can access
from your computer, smartphone, or tablet.

You can share the files with your social networks as

well.

It comes with 2 GB of free storage (or up to 18 GB if

you refer a friend).

Available at www.dropbox.com
 d) Online Document Storage

Online Document Storage…

MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research

Mega

This new tool promises “state of the art, browser-

based encryption technology” and a whopping 50 GB
of free cloud storage.

It ensures reliable storage and fast file transfers

Available at https://mega.nz/
 d) Online Document Storage

Online Document Storage…

MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research

Microsoft OneDrive
Formerly known as SkyDrive is a file hosting
service and synchronization service operated
by Microsoft as part of its suite of Office
Online services.

OneDrive offers 5 GB of storage space free of charge,

with 50 GB, 1 TB, and 5 TB storage options available
either separately or with Office 365 subscriptions.
 d) Online Document Storage
So far, we have seen about various digital file formats, how to convert from
MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research

one format to another.

Further, we have seen some of the important cloud storage tools.

It is hoped that the students, research scholars, faculty and scientists of

National Agricultural Research and Education System of this country should
ensure effective and efficient use of these digital tools and techniques to
support their academic and research requirements.

Thank you very much for your patient listening.

MOOCs on Information Handling Skills
For Teaching , Learning and Research Bibliography

1. https://drive.google.com
2. www.dropbox.com
3. https://www.freefileconvert.com
4. https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/microsoft-365/onedrive/online-cloud-storage
5. https://mega.nz/
6. https://www.wordtopdf.com/en/
7. https://www.wordtopdf.com/en/