Sunday, September 7, 2008

Week 6: Google Tools



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Online Applications

If you haven't heard of Google by now, I'm not sure what planet you have been living on, but it definitely hasn't been Earth. Everyone knows about the famous Google search engine, but did you know there is a complete suite of Google products that are available for the everyday user? These products include gmail (an online email application), google docs and spreadsheets, google maps, google calendar and google talk just to name a few. In the past few years Google has also bought out successful web companies such as youtube and picasa to add to their suite of products. Check out the full list of Google products and services.

In the last few years, there have been many reports that Google has become the new microsoft. Even if this is the case, Google is offering web based applications at a minimal cost to the user (usually only exposure to some advertisements) and the new generation is utilising these applications more and more everyday. This week's task will introduce you to some Google applications including Google Maps, Google Docs and Spreadsheets and Google Book Search. Next week you will be able to join these applications together on your new google homepage.

Google Docs

One major benefit to web-based applications is that they eliminate the need to worry about different software versions or file types as you email documents or move from PC to PC. Another bonus is that they easily accommodate collaboration by allowing multiple users to edit the same file (with versioning) and provide users the ability to easily save and convert documents as multiple file types (including HTML and pdf). And, you can even use many of these tools, such as Zoho Writer and Google Docs (Formerly known as Writely) to author and publish posts to your blog.


It’s this type of integration with other Web 2.0 tools that also makes web-based apps so appealing. For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a look at a web-based word processing tool called Google Docs, create a simple document and then post about your discoveries in your blog.

Discovery Exercise:Before completing any of the tasks below, please create a google account. If you are using blogspot for your blog, you already have a google account. Please use this for all google tasks.


1. Create a free account for yourself in Google Docs
2. Explore the site and create a test document or two.
3. Try out Google Docs features and create a blog post about your discoveries.

* Note: You can also explore Zoho Writer

Discovery Resources:
A short list of web-based productivity applications – Note: This list was authored in ZohoWriter and exported as HTML.


Google Maps

Discovery Resources
  1. Take a tour of Google Maps.
  2. Go to Google Maps Australia and find the following:
    • your place of work
    • your home
    • hotels in Brunswick (remember there are many places in the world named Brunswick so you may need to put the state or country in the search field too).
  3. Find directions from your home to your work.
  4. Finally, create a post in your blog telling the world about google maps. What did you think of google maps?
Google Book Search

Your tasks

  1. Read about Google Book Search (see link above)
  2. Go to Google Book Search
  3. Search for your favourite book.
  4. Create a post in your blog about this Google Book Search. Don't know what to blog about? Think about these questions: Is Google the new Microsoft? How can your library use Google book search?

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