(Approx. 450 words)

Google Docs 4Everyone
Reviewed by John Krill, Member, NOCCC (North Orange County Computer Club) California
Orange Bytes, August 2009
www.noccc.org
editor (at) noccc.org

This article has been obtained from APCUG with the author’s permission for publication by APCUG member groups; all other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above).

 Confession first: I'm a big Google fan. After two nightmare situations with Yahoo!, I went over to the bright side and got a Gmail account. Now I have four Gmail accounts. The center of my Internet existence is Google's Personal Web portal. I also use Google Blogger for three blogs. Lastly there is Picasa for organizing all my photos and the Picasa's web space for displaying the photos I want to share with others.

The one Google application that I have wanted to use but have put it off is Google Docs. This application is a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation program in one wrapper. Why use Google Docs when Microsoft Word and Excel are fast and easy to use? The primary reason is Google Docs ability to easily collaborate and share with others.

You can't learn this stuff on your own -- can you? That's where Google Docs 4Everyone comes into play. Let’s be honest I really didn't think I needed a manual to learn Google Docs. I was wrong. The first chapter alone gave me information on Google accounts that I've already taken advantage of. If you only read about the collaboration tools (Chapters 5, 8, and 10) in Google Docs you will benefit greatly. The book covers word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and collaborating and sharing the documents you work with in Google Docs.

Remember the manual you received with your software? Well Google Docs 4Everyone is your manual for Google Docs. It's that simple. Most of you have a wealth of knowledge using word processors, spreadsheets, and presentation software and
what you need is a manual that gives the basics of Google Docs, especially its limits. The important subjects are those that make Google Docs special. Primarily its collaboration tools and Google Docs ability to publish to the Web and post to blogs. It’s
all covered in Google Docs 4Everyone.

This book is very much recommended. I'm now a big fan of Google Docs because of Google Docs 4Everyone. The list price for Google Docs 4Everyone is $19.99 and it can
be had at Amazon for $13.59. (It also can be ordered from the publisher with a 35% discount if your group is a member of the Pearson User Group program).

Google Docs 4Everyone is authored by Steven Holzner and Nancy Holzner. 251 Pages. Publisher: QUE, 800 East 9th St., Indianapolis, Indiana, 46240.
(http://www.informit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0789739364)