Week 5 : Google Documents and Google Calendar

Google Docs

This week we are going to be having a refresher for Google Documents. The movie below shows how this program is useful.

Listen to our podcast and read the content below. If you have questions about anything along the way, be sure to contact us. We’re happy to help!

Why would I want to use Google Docs?

1. Anywhere editing

• You can edit documents from any computer that has an internet connection & a web browser; both Firefox and Internet Explorer work equally well in Google Docs.
• Edit using an interface that’s similar to Microsoft Office software, with familiar features like spell check & word count.
• Don’t have Microsoft Excel or PowerPoint on your home computer? No worries—just use Google Docs instead.
• Create your document at work in Microsoft Office & import it into Google Docs, then add more ideas from home or a conference.
• You’ll never again need to copy a file to a portable flash drive or email it to yourself to continue working on it elsewhere.

2. Collaboration

• Invite colleagues and co-workers to proof-read your work & add their suggestions, without having to merge their feedback into the final version.
• Allow everyone on your committee to co-edit a document.
• Avoid being “locked out” of a shared file if a colleague leaves a Microsoft Office document open on his/her computer.
• If you and another collaborator are editing the same document at the same time, a box at the bottom left of the screen will appear, telling you the name of the collaborator(s) you’re working alongside.
  
• If multiple people are editing or viewing the same spreadsheet at the same time, the Discuss tab will open and you’ll see the names of those people listed. From here, you can chat with these people about changes being made to the spreadsheet, or anything else!
• Review changes made by whom & when, and (if necessary) roll back to any earlier version.

3. Self-publish

• Publish your writing & presentations on the web, allowing a wide audience access to your work.
• Once you click the “Publish” button, your document has its own URL to which you can link.
• Avoid sending humongous 10MB PowerPoint presentations as email attachments; send a link to your online presentation instead.

4. Backups

• You needn’t worry about losing your work if your computer’s hard drive fails; saved documents are stored on Google’s servers. Google says, “While we can’t give you exact figures, please be assured that we back up data almost as often as you can change it.”
• A document is automatically saved multiple times while you’re editing it. Even if you’re interrupted or your web browser crashes while working on a document, when you return to the document you’ll find it the same as you left it.

5. Mistakes happen

• If you’ve copied & pasted a formula into a spreadsheet and later realized there’s a mistake in the calculations, you’ll appreciate being able to review a document’s revisions to find where the error was made and correct it.
• You can even compare different versions of edits!

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.

Ways 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 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.

The video below is a very good online video tutorial. It was made by a school system. The logo is different than what we have but the information is still the same.

Assignment:

1. Log in to Google Docs and edit either the existing text document, spreadsheet, or slideshow.
a. Go to Google Docs.
b. Log in using your email account username & password.
c. Add your name & jot a note on the “Welcome to Google Docs!” text document, and add a slide to the “Adventures in Technology Slideshow”.
d. Click the Revisions tab to see what changes have been made, and compare some versions of the document.
e. When you’re finished, click the “Sign out” link.

2. Post to your blog about your experience trying Google Docs — how you think it could be useful in libraries and/or in your life.

Google Calendar

Google Calendar has many uses. First of all you all have a personal calendar. It is like having a desk calendar available at any computer you may be at.

Please watch the online tutorial below. It will help you understand how to use the calendar.



Assignment:
Add an event to the AIT calendar and post to your blog about your experience using Google Calendar.

Extra Credit:
Try using your own Google Calendar (which is accessible through your library email). Add some events and try sharing them with another person. It could be someone else at the library or maybe your spouse!