Web-based apps: break free from your desktop!

Topic: "Explore Google Docs and create a test document or two..."

I had already collaborated on a colleague's Learn & Play google presentation, so I knew something about this.

I created my own google spreadsheet and document. I published (http://docs.google.com/?hl=en&tab=wo&pli=1#owned-by-me) my google document and invited colleagues to collaborate.

I encoutered trouble with the share feature. My having not yet closed the document may have been the problem. However, another problem, this time with the display of the confirmation message when the invitation went through, also occured. In any case, I separately e-mailed my own notification to the collaborators.

I foresee testing google docs's suitability for my day-to-day work outside of the library, specifically newsletter editing. If google's functionality falls to much short of Word, I won't use it for this. However, I can see how our library could use it, e.g. for publishing a list of staff responsibilities within a branch. With regular staff turnover, this list changes, making a single updated list useful.

Similarly, groups of people, such as library staff across branches or systems, could use google docs. I explored the "revision history" feature, which addresses the main issue I foresee in its actual use.