Thing #18 Online productivity tools

We have Open Office on our library circulation PC. It just wasn't cost effective to install MS Office on it when it is mostly used for running Follett Destiny. I have used it a few times for creating a quick sign or document, but it does not have graphics readily available from within the program. If all you need is limited word processing, then Open Office (free software) works OK. We haven't really tried to use it for shared documents, though, so I'm not positive it is always compatible with Word. It has a much simpler interface than Word 2007--though fewer features.

I'm just beginning to use Google docs. I've created a spreadsheet, a presentation, and a word processing document. I think this might be a solution for students who are always needing work at home and at school. We'll have to see if this would work for research papers and homework assignments. It would be safer than carrying flash drives around. I think we will discover several uses for it now that we know how easy it is to use (with a Google account).