Thing 12: Google docs

We use Google docs as a team quite a lot.  The various Google doc applications allows you to share spreadsheets on which you can all collaborate without worrying about version control, write a report together from miles apart while chatting using the in-built instant messager, and save and edit presentations amongst other things. One of its main advantages is collaboration.  As we get a Google Apps account as part of our Westminster University IT package it seems a natural thing to use these as a tool in our working lives.  

We also recently created profile pages for our team- Google sites gave us the flexible to create a simple website and then share it with other team members so that they can hold the rights to edit their own pages as they wish.

I also like using it just as a storage for documents.  I remember at Uni frequently emailing myself essay drafts from the library as I had forgotten to take anything to save them on, getting back to my laptop only to curse myself for not saving it as a text document having realised I didn't have the same version of Word as the Uni computers.  Now all you need to do is log into your Google account and upload your latest oeuvre to work on later. Storage space for documents you can access from anywhere with an internet connection- another huge advantage.

One of the main disadvantages has always been functionality- that was never going to be its main winning feature against the likes of Microsoft.  However Google are even trying to lure those still clinging to Office with Cloud Connect- this allows you to download a plug-in for Office so that you can work within the Micrsoft Office environment while using the plug-in to save&sync those documents to the Google Cloud.  These documents can then also be shared and simultaneously edited by multiple people, from within Office, thus mixing the functionality/familiarity advantages of Office with the collaborative/sharing advantages of Google Docs. As you have to have admin rights to download this onto Uni computers I am unable to test this out but this seems like something as a team we should investigate to see if it gives us the advantage of the collaboration we have got used to with the added benefits of being able to create something from within Office.

Thing 12 summary: The advantages to using Google docs have always been very clear to me, the added value it brings is probably why it is the Thing most heavily used by our team.  It will be interesting to see what effect our new content management system, Alfresco, which also has tools to allow collaborative documents, has on our use of Google.  I would also be interested to see how Cloud Connect could be used.

Photo: Bluebell in Lower Benefield, Northamptonshire taken by Ellie