Page 114 - DCAP307_PLANNING_AND_MANAGING_IT_INFRASTRUCTURE

Planning and Managing IT Infrastructure

Notes changes, the process could be very tedious and error-prone, opening the door to the loss of
changes due to version-control issues, formatting problems, and sometimes the loss of
information about who made particular changes.
With Google Docs, authors can work on the same document in real time. Changes can be tracked
and attributed, and the document can be shared with a larger group of authors and reviewers as
it becomes more polished. Contributors are able to co-author—sometimes even simultaneously—
a digital document, creating opportunities on campus for real-time peer editing and research
collaboration.

6.2.6 Social Interaction

Who do you know, how do you know them, and are you willing to admit it? This is the question
social interaction tools like Facebook and LinkedIn ask. In the process of articulating
relationships, users can take advantage of common links and interests to build shared networks
and affinity groups.
Facebook

Facebook is an environment that encourages people to connect with others through a social
networking platform. Users create profiles to share information about themselves, including
their education, interests, and their social goals. Facebook users are also encouraged to find all
of the people they are connected to, whether through contacts made offline or through common
interests. Facebook makes it particularly easy to publicly share interests or loyalties with others
and to promote connections based on interests.
Can Facebook be considered a collaboration tool? As a very “sticky” application (one that users
visit often and tend to stay on for extended periods of time), it has a rich feature set that
continues to evolve. Facebook is also growing rapidly. While it started off as a tool exclusively
for college students, it has quickly penetrated many non-academic peer groups. Usage is almost
ubiquitous among North American youth under 25.

Facebook is being used to facilitate serendipitous connections between friends and contacts. It
also brings people with similar interests together, from students creating a group page to
organise and discuss a project to classrooms creating a shared space to post notes and common
questions.

Notes Given its potential to integrate deeply into the practices of a large number of
people, it holds great promise as a collaboration tool.
6.2.7 Geographic Richness

Geographic and mapping tools use the power of location to create spatial connections between
users, adding a layer of information for users to share and contribute to.

Google Earth

Google Earth is a client application installed on local PCs and uses browser plug-ins and an
Internet connection to provide rich, visual, geographic data. Other features enable users to
contribute personal coordinates to the data exhibited in Google Earth. Users are encouraged to
upload their own sites and pinpoint their location on the map. Browsers can view locations of

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