Google Docs

Google Docs seems very straightforward and easy to use for anyone who is familiar with Microsoft Office. One frustrating experience I had is that when I tried to access the main slide show it crashed Internet Explorer and I had to start over.

I could see how this might be useful for a few different projects that I've worked on recently. WALS has just finished rewriting its bylaws and agreement, and there were many versions (and a lot of wasted paper) and it would have been interesting to have been using Google Docs instead of MS Word.

Ripon just completed its most recent newsletter, which one staff member currently handles. If it's possible to create a template in Google Docs, then we might consider using this in the future. Staff members could be assigned a space that they need to fill, which might be easier than having one person edit and move things around, not knowing which info can be cut. It's also easy for staff to proofread and make immediate corrections, rather than passing around paper copies or emailing changes.

I also think this might be useful for WAPL's Communique newsletter. It would give contributors an idea of how much space they had to fill, rather than leaving it up to the editor, and would have some of the same benefits listed above.