Collaboration / Productivity Software

Wow, I found out about Google Docs a while back and was going to try it out but didn't get around to it. Today it was easier because I had already set up my gmail account in Week 1 of this training. The origins of collaborative software are not recent. Back in about 1995, because of the area where I worked, we were really into version control and we had documents that only some staff could access. I also worked somewhere where we had this huge spreadsheet which was Read Only access except to a few people and even then, only one person could update the spreadsheet at one time. If one person was 'in' the spreadsheet, then the others had to wait to update. We would yell across the office "okay, I'm done, now you can get into it!" (really professional I know - we did use email sometimes!).

But this new software is so much better because your documents are not tied to a particular drive in a workplace. You can use the Web to access them and so can anyone else who has permission. Lotus Notes tried to spread the word about collaboration many years ago now, but I guess most people just ended up using it for email and appointment calendars. I think it was called Groupware back then, but I can see now that things have moved on to a great degree. It seems like for every possible need or problem that you might have, someone (a smart developer out there) has come up with the answers!

I remember reading ages ago how everyone gets 'sold' into buying these powerful (and very expensive) computers that can run all these software applications that can do some amazing things, but you know what? Most people never use any of that stuff. The things that Microsoft Word and Excel alone can do is amazing but many people just use these applications for typing an essay or making a small spreadsheet of a list of items or for small calculations. Except for odd occasions, many people only need a very basic computer with basic software and this is exactly what is offered here online. Google Docs doesn't have all the features of Word, but for much of the time, it doesn't matter! It's like the old KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid). Simplicity is often the best policy and the best thing is much of this online sharing software is FREE! The internet is so cool that way. I love the logo designs and page layouts of many of these tools too - emphasizing the simplicity.

At the moment, I can't think of a lot of times I would need to share stuff with colleagues online, however I can see the potential for the future for me. Students, collaborating on a group assignment would find it useful. As a student myself, I would find something like Google docs very useful as I could start an essay or set down some ideas, then add to them at work, at another library, whilst on holidays - wherever I was in the world!

I suppose anything that has iterations could benefit from these tools, such as a group of workers putting together a policy document, or a Procedures Manual. I am not sure about how these tools could be used in the library where the public are involved, except in the case where a customer could watch library-made slideshows either from home on the library website or at a terminal in the library. This might be good for training customers on certain aspects of the library (eg how to use the catalogue) or showing something on local history or points of interest. Slideshows are not as exciting as video to some people but the picture quality is often a lot clearer, you can display static information better (like in a powerpoint presentation) and you don't need sound. The Sydney Morning Herald uses slideshows for its photos sometimes, so why not libraries!

I noticed that many of these new collaborative software solutions are still in Beta. It seems that everything is moving so fast now, that there isn't time now to wait until something is out of Beta testing. And if it works, who cares! The sheer choice of applications offered by, say Zoho, is amazing! Like another person commented on the main forum, it's difficult to get your head around it all at once. I want to try them all out but I can't think of the content at the moment. As for how to use them in libraries, I think that is going to take me a lot longer to think about.