Week 8: Cloud Computing

I'd done so well keeping up with these projects, but the pace of the last two weeks has put be behind. Happily, however, my "to-do" list created a great opportunity to test this lesson.  Using Google Docs, the KLA Finance Committee is trying to put together a budget recommendation for the KLA 2010-2011 year.  I was able to get several documents posted and invitations to the committee successfully delivered. This evening, I suggested a method for members to start joint editing of a concept report. We'll see how that works.

If I were working in a small library or doing a lot of committee work of this kind, I suspect that Google Docs might be a tool I would find useful. In our library, however, we have the benefit of access to a robust City network with the ability to share network drives, folders and portals. By giving people permissions to share these access points, we regularly create and edit all kinds of documents. That is easier for me, but I'll keep cloud computing in my tool box as a reasonable workaround when I don't have the in-house team and network available for my projects.