Online applications and tools in Week 11

I created a document and shared it with the nswpln team. I had a reply from them with my document edited/commented. This was a good start and I was able to see the potential uses of Google Docs. Even in our libraries we can collaboratively share our documents in the form of word processing, spreadsheets and presentations. Curently our library documents are shared on a network drive which can be accessed by all staff. However this is through our intranet. In Google Docs, documents are shared via the internet making them on-line documents which can be easily accessed from any computer. These documents can be collaboratively edited by your team members who can view the same document and not have to work on many copies of the same document.

I was also chekcing out Zamzar which can manage and convert for free text, videos, pictures and audio files. Although it cannot perform all that the pricely computer software packages do, Zamzar can do the work you want in a few easy quick steps.


The Slide show from Slideshare had other free on-line productivity tools (apart from Zamzar) which I thought were good as they were all free and could do wonders. Picnik was another tool for easy on-line editing of your photographs. I remember Picnik when I was on the Flickr Week. Photo editing is made fun with Picnik, by being very creative with fonts, shapes, frames and other special effects. I tried my hand at basic Picnik with one of my photos taken in Canberra. Looks OK for a first timer!

Then there is Doodle, where we can schedule and organise meetings, conferences, events, trips, holidays etc. in our work place or at home.

Writeboard and Omnidrive were similar to Google Docs, where yu can write, share, edit and compare changes to documents on-line by inviting other people.

Jott, they say is voice mail 2.0 and can be used instead of texting. Jott is where spoken words are transcribed and texted or emailed.

Ta-da list as the name suggests is a to-do list. Once again these lists are on-line and can be shared and edited. It can be your shopping list, daily things to do list, what to take on your trip list, party planning list and all those other lists which we all tend to have in our daily lives! These lists can be accessed by anyone on-line via a Ta-da list account.

Then there is the Senduit/SendIt for sending and sharing very large files without freezing up your email.

Slideshare can share your powerpoint presentations, a great feature of social networking. I did enjoy viewing the slide show on Slideshare.

That was a handful! I realise now, the number of new on-line applicaitons and tools out there which I did not know.

For libraries, Google Docs, Writeboard, Omnidrive etc. could be used on projects where team members can can view material update/edite and collaboratively share one document. Sometimes, staff are at different locations and due to other work commitments, it can be hard for them to attend team meetings. In such instances their work plans, ideas, suggestions, input can be via these tools. These applications could be used for preparing library policies and standards which are on-going. Doodle can be used for scheduling meetings where all team members can pick an agreable date & time and control calendars. With Picnik, you could do wonders for your library photos - ideal for advertising and promoting your library.

The slight drawback in all these on-line applications are that staff should have the knowledge in how to use these tools in order to make full use of all its features. Most tools are pretty straightfoward to use, but the number of applications available are great and to keep up with all that can be daunting at times. Staff training and keeping abreast of the new emerging applications is essential.