Exploration 6 - Online Office Tools

I have previously fiddled around with Google Docs, so I was somewhat familiar with the advantages (and disadvantages) that come along with using online office tools. Obviously, they are great for creating and sharing basic word processing and spreadsheet documents. Friends of mine have used them for collaborating on group papers, not having too many complaints despite the limited features and other little quirks that go along with using a web-based program.

What I liked about Zoho was the ability to place one document in many different files using tags. I don't recall Google Docs having this feature, but it's one they may want to ad. I have had the problem of wanting a document to appear many different places, but having to re-save it in many different places when I edited one particular copy. I also dig how it will link up with many blogging serviecs to that a person can post to their blog from the program. Offline editing capabilities can also come in handy when you are (shock!) without internet but need to work on that web-based document you've created. The limited features aren't too noticible (except when it comes to font selection), though there seems to be a bit of a lag in response time when you click on commands. This is likely just due to the slow connection here in the libraries.

As the 2.0 blog pointed out already, web-based office tools are great for our patrons, who otherwise would be without things like Excel and PowerPoint in the library. They are also great for working on projects with people in other locations. Though there are probably a few kinks to work out (and a few features the creators may want to add), these programs are pretty solid and will likely stick around, if not dominate the office tool field in the next few years.