Online Office Application Tools Library 2.0 Activity #22

I work with large spreadsheets and MS Access files on a daily basis at my full-time job. I can't say how many times we've been frustrated because our proprietary office email won't handle our files. We send large files of images (in our case, of thick gazetteers) back and forth, and sometimes have to store them on an external hard drive and hand carry it to someone in another building because they are too large for our in-house network. We also work with geographic information system hardware, which can have compatibility issues with MS Office. None of the online applications featured has something comparable to MS Access. However, for just about everything else, we could use these online apps. The prospect of sharing our information online from any computer is very intriguing. Everyone has had problems emailing attachments which won't open on someone else's computer because a certain proprietary software isn't installed. We talk a lot at my work about the "silo effect", about the need to break down hierarchies and departmental barriers. This software, I think, holds the key. The difficulty is getting everyone to use the same communication medium. There will always be security issues with posting sensitive internal communications online, or getting everyone to agree to use the same software. Some people don't like signing up with an online vendor, even if it is free, because they don't want to register any personal information to register. I believe the momentum, however, is shifting in favor of open source, collaborative applications. The price is right. No software is entirely bug-proof, but the collaborative nature of open source products make correcting errors a faster and simpler process. The monolithic, corporate approach has not been keeping pace with specialized needs. Rather than one size fits all, the future lies in tailoring products to specific niches. Many people are more open to the idea of storing and sharing data online, because the workplace is increasingly mobile. The idea of LOCKSS (lots of copies keep stuff safe) is at play here. If the mobile storage device is lost, or the hard drive damaged, where is the backup? Why lug your mobile device around, with its limited storage capacity, when you can look up your files on the Web, anywhere, with theoretically limitless capacity? What is the logic, say, of squirreling away all all your family history information away on a hard drive, instead of posting a version of it online for others to augment or revise? Many have had their lineages extended, their research dead-ends broken down, or even anonymous photographs identified, by sharing their information online. In collaboration there is strength.