The Cloud: Using Web-Based Tools for Collaboration
Six years ago when the AIDS.gov project launched, most of us were using a single device (e.g., a desktop work computer) to develop and collaborate on documents. Our systems for creating and editing materials were often slow since they required saving and emailing large files and keeping track of the “master” document to avoid version control issues. The other challenge was not being able to easily access the files from multiple computers (e.g., home and work computers) without saving the files to thumb drives (or disks!), or emailing the files.
The good news is, today, thanks to the prevalence of wi-fi, document collaboration has become a lot easier. This is becoming increasingly important as people are often using more than one device (e.g., computer, phone, tablet, etc.) to create and share documents. According to a recently-released Forrester Consulting report
In addition to using multiple devices to work on documents, people are using “the “cloud” to access, sync, and share documents. According to Common Craft’s video, Cloud Computing in Plain English
An example of the many tools out there that we have been using at AIDS.gov is DropBox
Products similar to Dropbox include Google Drive (which ties to Google Docs), SugarSync, and Box. Most of these services are accessible across different devices, include a few free gigabytes of storage to get started, and allow for sharing (this article
Another free tool we use to manage, create, and share AIDS.gov documents is Google Apps. We use it for many different types of project work, but in particular we use Google Docs to draft and edit blog posts. One of our favorite features is multiple members being able to edit a post together in real time, as well as see the latest revisions made. Having all of our blog documents in one place across team members also helps us stay organized. We also use Google Calendar to help manage our editorial calendar.
We know there are so many tools out there and want to hear from you about which tools you find helpful. How are you using online tools to collaborate on documents? We welcome your comments.
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