Why using Google Docs

Hi,

The on-line documents are stored in my Google Documents account (one GB space available for free).  These documents are maintained using Google's on-line tools.  Thus, anyone who can access a document can edit it without needing special software installed on their separate computer. 

The Google software also allows multiple people to open the documents simultaneously.  It shows you who is currently using the sheet and shows you changes as other people make them. 

The documents can be exported (and imported to Google) to/from various formats (e.g., MS Word, Excel, PDFs, etc.).

Google documents can share information with other Google documents.

Lastly, you can now store non-Google documents, too, on Google. 

Yahoo Groups has some of these features, but not all.  The only Google down side is that documents aren't just posted for everyone to see if they are a member of the group (one way we were trying to use Yahoo).  Instead, we use a web page to access the documents.

I don't know all the in's-and-out's, but I think we can set up on-line directories and allow different people access to each of the directories, but everyone would need to register with Google.  Instead, I grant access privileges to a web page which list the available documents (or by giving desired people a direct link to a document).  If you don't know the link and/or can't access the web page, you have no way to see the document.

I took advantage of documents sharing information with other documents.  One document, "Lar Rieu CERT Graduates" (sorted alphabetically, and by street), is the master document (database, if you will).  You've seen this list printed out and distributed at some of the meetings.  The information in this is shared as needed with other documents. 

For example, you will probably want to assign people to various roles at the drill on May 22.  In this list, you want to see the person's name, role, cell phone number, home number, and email address.   If you give me a spreadsheet with just the list of names and their roles, I can easily supply the cell phone number, home number, and email address from the master spreadsheet.  This is quick, accurate, and you don't have to re-enter any of that data.  Someone changes their email address?  No problem.  Change it ONCE in the master document, and it AUTOMATICALLY appears in any spreadsheet that wanted the email address of that person.  This is the ONLY way we should keep information like this.  Trying to keep the SAME information in more than one place invariably yields data this is inaccurate and out of synch.  I know how to do this.  None of you have to learn it.  I'll be glad to customize whatever you want when you want me to.  (After you see how to do it once, you could do it, too, if you wanted to -- see the "Spreadsheet Maintenance Notes" sidebar link).  Incidentally, I already started a May 22 roster spreadsheet... click the link in the table on the main web page.

Gary Montante

925-939-4049