Allow me to rhapsodize....
Calendar is great because you can color code and sync your different calendars. So when I look at my calendar, I can see my work schedule, personal engagements, computer classes, holidays and phases of the moon. It's always helpful to know when the full moon coincides with a day at the reference desk! And I have my agenda displayed on my iGoogle homepage. I tend to prefer my paper calendar to mastermind my schedule, but if I had an iPhone or Blackberry or some such gadget, I would depend on my Google Calendar. One feature I think is cool is that you can have your agenda emailed to you each day.
I love the new interface for Google Documents--it's pretty to look at, and you can now add documents to folders. I also discovered that if you're logged on to Google and you download a file, you can download it directly into your Documents. The documents are still fully functional with Word or Excel, and it's a great file storage option. There are, of course, options available in Word or Excel that you don't have through Google, but all the "essentials" are there, and after using Google services for a while I've learned that they're always tinkering with them and improving their functionality.
Both of these services are great for collaboration. We've all been using the time off spreadsheets, but think of the possibilities for larger projects! To use a personal example, I've been planning my sister's wedding shower. I have a spreadsheet with 2 tabs--the party details, and the guest list. All of the bridesmaids, as well as my mom (the benefactress), have access to the documents, so everyone can add ideas, or addresses, what have you, and it updates in real time. So everyone has access to the latest incarnation of the project planning. Off the top of my head, I'm thinking we could potentially use this for brainstorming the new reference desk needs (fingers crossed!), scheduling, program planning (new computer classes and content, other new ideas), or just about anything we wanted to examine and innovate!
And that's my ode to Google.
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