So Google Docs isn't an online medical assessment centre!! Its actually a kind of online word processor. It retains all the basic functions of MS Word but the greater advantage is that it allows you to share work with others. You can chose to either share as a Viewer or a Collaborator. A Collaborator will have license to alter any documents shared, whilst a Viewer merely has access to view a secured document.
I have been working on this project on my own but i can see how a collaborative project could be greatly assisted using Google Docs. It eliminates emailing Word documents back and forth and allows instant access to both parties. It would also allow you to both work on the same document, avoiding the issue of synergising two separate pieces of writing into one. I have used the system however, to receive documents from a number of my interviewees, sending me information post interview.
I have equally used the site to give my learning support advisor access to my report concurrently, as I work.
Overall, a very useful tool, allowing you to use an online word processor for free and to share and save your work on an external server. Its ideal for a collaborative project. The only negative is the potential to lose your work, should you lose your internet connection (as I found to my cost!)
Monday, 6 December 2010
Log 1 - Commentary on sharing resources using resources using delicious
Delicious is a social bookmarking tool. The concept is that when you find something of interest, both to you and potentially to your colleagues, friends or peers, you are able to bookmark links so that the information you have found is easily retrievable. You can tag a topic or even a friend so that searching for information can be specified to a subject or a person. Delicious also allows you to cutomise your browser toolbar to allow you to access it with ease. Like most social networks, the information is stored in a central server so anyone can access the site and it's contents wherever web access is available.
Whenever you are writing a report of any length, it is easy to build an amorphous collection of notes on A4, much of which will never see the light of day again, let alone make it into your final piece. Delicious makes 'note taking' from the internet a thing of the past. I can easily come back to a link that previously I would have had to trawl through search engines to 're-find'. Its especially useful when putting together the bibliography on completion of a report as all your internet resources and stored in one location. The above details how Delicious has aided my organisational practise but the site has also contributed massively to the content of my report. My peers are of course producing similar reports on a variety of themes. But we are all using similar research methods and have been able to share links on the subject via Delicious. There has also been some cross-over in terms of topics - charity for instance - and I have found the more 'personal' posts or tags of others quite beneficial to my own subject area.
In conclusion, Delicious has helped me to work in a more organised fashion, something I struggle with due to my learning difficulties. It has also allowed me to share knowledge and learn from the knowledge of others, benefitting the content of my work. Overall, it has been a very positive addition to my working practise and has added to my confidence as I can see that others are on a similar path.
Whenever you are writing a report of any length, it is easy to build an amorphous collection of notes on A4, much of which will never see the light of day again, let alone make it into your final piece. Delicious makes 'note taking' from the internet a thing of the past. I can easily come back to a link that previously I would have had to trawl through search engines to 're-find'. Its especially useful when putting together the bibliography on completion of a report as all your internet resources and stored in one location. The above details how Delicious has aided my organisational practise but the site has also contributed massively to the content of my report. My peers are of course producing similar reports on a variety of themes. But we are all using similar research methods and have been able to share links on the subject via Delicious. There has also been some cross-over in terms of topics - charity for instance - and I have found the more 'personal' posts or tags of others quite beneficial to my own subject area.
In conclusion, Delicious has helped me to work in a more organised fashion, something I struggle with due to my learning difficulties. It has also allowed me to share knowledge and learn from the knowledge of others, benefitting the content of my work. Overall, it has been a very positive addition to my working practise and has added to my confidence as I can see that others are on a similar path.
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