• Collaborative Research Tools
  
• Lunch-n-Learn: Exam Prep
  
• Law Library Holiday and Exam Hours
  
• Law Dawg of the Month
  
• Crossword Puzzle
  
• Featured Acquisitions - highlights of the Law Library's most recent purchases

Want to share documents with co-authors or admirers? Want to have ready access to a file no matter where you are? A variety of web-based tools exist to fill those needs. These platforms externally host the file, and allow the owner to designate who can view or edit it.

Google Docs
Perhaps the easiest to start using is Google Docs, an option available to anyone who has registered with a gmail account. The user can either upload an existing file to edit, or create a new one.

The convenient feature of this type of platform is the ability to grant access to these documents to any other user, allowing them to either view or edit the document. Multiple users at the same time can work on the document, or input data into a spreadsheet, which can be very efficient for some projects. When completed, the document can be exported into either PDF or Word format files, for any finishing formatting touches. While Google Docs does allow for the insertion of footnotes – something law writing enjoys perhaps a bit too much! – this functionality is here a bit remedial.

Zoho
A more advanced suite of tools is offered by Zoho.com, also available after free registration. Drawbacks of Zoho as compared to Google Docs is that Zoho does not have an autosave feature that regularly saves the file being edited, which can prevent annoying data loss. Perhaps more frustrating is that Zoho will not share documents with non-Zoho subscribers. So if you choose this tool, make sure that everyone you might want to share with already has a Zoho account.

Despite these limitations, Zoho has many things to recommend it. It has a much better footnoting capability, and can export into a greater variety of document formats, including .docx. (Interestingly, no collaborative tools I looked at allowed exporting into WordPerfect.) While the main attraction for this approach is the group editing that it allows, Zoho does allow for offline editing as well.

Wiggio
Both Zoho and Google Docs convert a file into their own versions of word processing or spreadsheet software (Zoho even has a version of Powerpoint-like slides). If you prefer that the file stay in Word format, or any format for that matter, you may be satisfied with a service like Wiggio that uploads the file as it is without converting it. This same ability exists for UGA members through mydrive.uga.edu, but Wiggio allows sharing the file with others who can work on the file (but not simultaneously as is the case with the other platforms).

These tools only scratch the surface of what has become available in recent years. As everyone’s needs will be different, not everyone will be drawn to the same choice. Look around to find which collaborative research tool best suits your purpose.

Thanksgiving Tidbits