For my Web 2.0 tool review for LIS 753, I will be examining Google Documents (Google Docs for short). I first encountered Google Docs about a month ago, when my research team for Research Methods (LIS 769) started using it to create and edit our consent form and questionnaire. Now each of us are analyzing segments of the data, and we are using Google Docs to fit our own work together into the whole.
There are several things that I like about Google Docs. It functions a bit like a wiki in that whoever creates a Google Doc can assign contributor and viewer statuses to people, and people invited to be contributors can make any changes that they want. If two or more contributors are logged on at the same time, a chat function becomes available so that the contributors can instantly communicate with one another, thereby reducing the number of edits and changes necessary on the document itself.
Finally, the feature that truly makes Google Docs a Web 2.0 tool, is the ease with which you can publish documents to the Web. According to the tour on its Website, “You can publish your documents online with one click, as normal-looking web pages, without having to learn anything new.” Documents can also be posted to your blog quickly and easily.
In addition to library science students using Google Docs to complete a class project, it is being used in a number of ways, both personally and professionally. It has been a boon for Internet marketing. Lesley Cutts, Marketing Manager for GoodnessDirect, uses Google Docs to keep her buyers, promoters, and photographers on the same page. (You can read her promotional statement on Google Docs here). Back in the library world, library chicken uses Google Docs to keep track of Staff Picks for the display at her library.
I can envision many uses for Google Docs in the library context. Any instance where more than one person needs access to a particular document is an instance where Google Docs could come in handy. People in acquisitions can keep track of book orders and purchases through the use of spreadsheets. Committee members can edit documents online without having to physically meet in the same place. Department heads can each add their own section to the big presentation for the director. The possibilities are numerous.
One final note: a Google account isn’t even necessary to view a document stored in Google Docs. However, if you want to edit a document, you need a Google account (which is free). One other thing I noticed is that if you don’t have a Google account and the link to the Google Doc is in a forwarded email, it won’t let you view it. Just a couple of bugs to be aware of.
