Thing #8: Online Apps

Define:

In the Daily Herald's Business section, Friday, January 9, the e-buzz columnist asked several local experts and executives to share their thoughts about what to expect in 2009. Fred Hogh, president of Illinois Technology Association and Mark Gambill, chief marketing officer for CDW Corp. both mentioned virtualization and cloud computing. Hogh said that "virtualization and cloud computing are the key technologies driving a massive transformation in the world of computing."

What is "cloud computing?" In the simplest terms, it is accessing and using applications on the Internet (Web-based applications) rather than on the hard drive of your computer.
The availability and use of online productivity web-based applications (think word processing and spreadsheets) has exploded over the past two 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. Some experts speculate that this emerging trend may mean the death to Microsoft Office and other software-based productivity tools, while others think web-based applications have their place, but not in the office. But no matter which side of the office suite platform you side with, on this both sides seem to agree; web-based apps have their place.

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 easily accommodate collaboration by allowing multiple users to edit the same file 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 Zoho Writer and Google Docs* (formerly known as Writely) 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.

Oh look, here's yet another one of those easy-to-understand videos from commoncraft to teach about more benefits of Google Docs! Sit back and enjoy!

Discover:





Let's take a closer look at Google Docs.
Google Docs is a free online suite of tools similar to ones offered in Microsoft Office, including…

- a word processor (like Microsoft Word)
- a spreadsheet (like Microsoft Excel)
- presentation software (like Microsoft PowerPoint)

The advantage of using Google Docs (and cloud computing, in general):
1. Access documents from any Internet-connected computer
- the interface and features are similar to the Microsoft Office you know and love;
- no need to purchase expensive Microsoft Office software for your home computer;
- create documents at work, using MS Office then upload to Google Docs so you can work on them at home;
- no need to save documents to a disc or flash drive to transport between computers
2. Collaboration is easy
- colleagues and co-workers can work on the same document so there is no need to merge changes
- there is only one document, so you never need to figure out which is the most current
- if more than one person is editing a document at the same time, a chat box is available to discuss changes
- you will not be "locked out" of a shared file because someone else is using it
3. Self-Publish : click the "publish" button and a web address is created for your document so you can link to it or share the address
4. Backups
- you won't lose your work if your computer crashes, your work is not on your computer, it's on the Google servers
- your documents are automagically saved periodically so if your Internet connection fails, your document is not lost

And did I mention, you can take documents created in Microsoft Office and import them into Google Docs.
And then you can export a document back into Microsoft Office, or in PDF or plain text format.
Or you can create your document from scratch in Google Docs.
With all of that going for it, why wouldn't you use Google Docs?

Here's how some libraries & librarians are using Google Docs:

- Offer it at public-access Internet workstations for patrons to use:
Google Docs is offered as a Microsoft Office alternative at the Monterey (CA) Public Library. Here’s what they say on their web page: “Library computers do not have word processing or spreadsheet software, and you cannot access Library disk drives. However, you can read, create, edit, and email word processing documents using Google Docs & Spreadsheet, and download your documents later on another computer in Microsoft Word and other popular formats.”
- Publish a library operations manual easily:
Mt. Mercy College Library (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) published their Interlibrary Loan Manual for student workers.
- Playtime 2.0 Progress Spreadsheets:
We are keeping track of the progress of Playtime 2.0 participants on a google Docs spreadsheet. You can check it here.

Do

Use this URL http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgcj82hq_0g26mkhkp&invite=435272663 to access a shared document I created on Google Docs.
Sign in (click on the "Sign In" link in the top right corner) with:
- Username: rosellepl
- Password: rospld40
Edit the document and save your changes (be sure to add your name!). Does it feel like the Word documents you are used to?

Now, let's write your "Thing #8: Online Apps" blog post

Browse to the "Playtime" blog you created in Thing #1 (it should be listed in the Participants' Blogs on the right) and create a new post.
Use "Thing #8: Online apps" as the title of your blog post.
In the post, write about:
- how you think Google Docs compares to MS Office
- do you think you would use Google Docs as an alternative to MS Office
- can you think of any applications for using Google Docs, or other online applications, in your job at the Library?

You're all finished with Thing #8.
You've learned a little bit about cloud computing and Web-based applications. You've looked at how other libraries are using online applications and played with Google Docs a bit. Good for you!

Optional BONUS CHALLENGE:
Time for some real playtime! Play the spreadsheet-based Flash game called Excit (the game’s name is a play on the words “Excel” and “exit”). The goal of the game is to exit the level you’re on. Each level is a number of walls arranged in different patterns with a clearly marked exit cell, as well as other objects that your cursor can interact with. Use your keyboard’s arrow keys to move the cursor up, down, left or right. Your cursor will continue in a direction until it hits an object that stops it, or continues off the screen; if it goes off the screen you start over at that level. Each time you complete a level you get a password—you can return to the game and be back at the same level.
Have fun!

We are coming down to the home stretch; just two more Things to go. Kudos to everyone who has stepped up and met the challenge of each of these Things. Next, we will learn how to continue on this path of Lifelong Learning in Thing #9...coming soon!