Thing #18: Online Productivity

Thing #18: Online Productivity

No, this term doesn't have to be an oxymoron. The availability and use of online productivity web-based applications (think word processing and spreadsheets) has exploded over the past few years and for good reasons! These powerful applications provide users with the ability to create and share documents over the internet without the need of installed desktop applications.

One large benefit to web-based applications it that they eliminate the need to worry about different software versions or file types as you email documents or move from PC to PC. Another bonus is that they easy accommodate collaboration by allowing multiple users to edit the same file (with versioning) and provide users the ability to easily save and convert documents as multiple file types (including HTML and pdf). And, you can even use many of these tools, such as Google Docs to author and publish posts to your blog. It’s this type of integration with other web 2.0 tools that also makes web-based apps so appealing. Google Docs can be accessed using the account you've set up for Blogger.

To finish Thing #18:
1) Explore Google Documents. Take their tour

2) Log in in using your blogger user account and password. Create a simple document, spreadsheet, or presentation (or all three!)

3) Record your discoveries in your blog. How could this be helpful for library staff? Students and other patrons? Presentations and programs?