Google Tools
Presented by:
Tim Hite
Resource Coordinator
Info Line / 2-1-1 Summit
Akron, OH
thite@infolineinc.org
Google's Mission and Philosophy
MISSION
Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it
universally accessible and useful.
PHILOSOPHY - 10 Things Google has found to be true
1. Focus on the user and all else will follow.
2. It's best to do one thing really, really well.
3. Fast is better than slow.
4. Democracy on the web works.
5. You don't need to be at your desk to need an answer.
6. You can make money without doing evil.
7. There's always more information out there.
8. The need for information crosses all borders.
9. You can be serious without a suit.
10. Great just isn't good enough.
http://www.google.com/corporate/tenthings.html
Google - Product Categories
http://www.google.com/press/descriptions.html
- Applications - Search - Ads - Enterprise - Mobile -
Google Apps for Non-Profits
http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/org/index.html
Offers a suite of applications that includes documents, webmail, shared
calenders, shared web sites (wikis), instant messaging, contact management and
a Start Page for creating a customizable homepage on a specific domain.
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Allows staff and outside contacts to communicate and collaborate online
It's all FREE and hosted "in the cloud" by Google, so there's no hardware or
software to download, install or maintain. Email ncludes anti-virus software
and spam filtering.
You can get up and running quickly, even if you don't have any technical
experience, and if you don't have an internet domain yet, Google can help
you register one when you sign up.
User testimonial - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOgIARpSh6U&feature=PlayList&p=DC86D9E5EE317326&index=2
Google Docs
http://www.google.com/google-d-s/intl/en/tour1.html
Provides a free web-based word processing, spreadsheet and presentation
programs that allow you to create and edit documents from anywhere and
collaborate with multiple people at the same time.
• Create basic documents from scratch or start from a template.
• Upload your existing files.
• Familiar desktop feel makes editing simple.
• Share and collaborate in real time
• Safely store and organize your work
• Control who can see your documents
Google Docs - Creating
Create basic documents from scratch or start from a template.
Includes basic tools like making bullet lists, sorting by columns, adding
tables, images, comments, formulas, changing fonts and more.
Upload your existing files.
Accepts most popular file formats, including DOC, XLS, ODT, ODS, RTF,
CSV, PPT, etc.
Familiar desktop feel
Click the toolbar buttons to bold, underline, indent, change font or number
format, change cell background color, etc.
Google Docs - Sharing
Choose who can access your documents.
Just enter the email addresses of the people with whom you want to share a given
document and send them an invitation.
Share instantly.
Anyone you've invited to either edit or view your document, spreadsheet or
presentation can access it as soon as they sign in.
Edit and present with others in real time.
Multiple people can view and make changes at the same time. There's an on-screen
chat window for spreadsheets, and document revisions show you exactly who
changed what, and when. Anyone logged into a presentation can automatically follow
along with the presenter.
Google Docs - Publishing
Publish your work as a web page.
You can publish your documents online with one click, as normal-looking web pages,
without having to learn anything new.
Control who can see your pages.
You can publish to the entire world, just a few people or no one. You can also un-publish
at any time.
Post your documents to your blog.
Once you've created a document, you can post it to your blog. Google Docs supports
posting documents to most of the popular blog sites, as well as to any blog that supports
the Blogger, metaWeblog or MovableType APIs.
Publish within your company or group.
With Google Apps, it's even easier to share important documents, spreadsheets and
presentations within your company or group.
Google Docs - Examples
https://www.google.com/a/infolineinc.org
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Shared spreadsheet for Ohio statewide taxonomy project
Resource updates for agencies
Database of resource directory orders
Staff Telephone Directory
Surveys
Blog posts
Embed stats and graphs in a web site
Presentations including this one!
Google Calendar
www.google.com/calendar
Organize your schedule and share events with friends
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See the big picture - With Google Calendar, you can
see other schedules right next to your own; quickly
add events mentioned in Gmail conversations or
saved in other calendar applications; and add other
interesting events that you find online.
Share events and calendars - You decide who can see
your calendar and which details they can view.
Planning an event? You can create invitations, send
reminders and keep track of RSVPs right inside
Google Calendar.
Stay on schedule - You can set up automatic event
reminders, including mobile phone notifications, and
instantly bring up anything on your calendar with the
built-in search tool.
Hot Meal Sites
Google Contacts
Contacts is a place to import, store and view all of the contact
information that's important to you. You can also create your own
groups of contacts to easily email many people at once.
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Supports imports and exports from a wide range of apps like
Outlook, Yahoo, and Hotmail
Creates a handy web-accessible backup
Google Talk
http://www.google.com/talk/
Offers features for communicating with coworkers and the general public.
Instant messaging — Chat with Google Talk and Gmail contacts in real time.
Free PC-to-PC voice chat — Talk to anyone else for free who's online and has the
Google Talk client.
Send and receive voicemails— If the person you're calling isn't available, you can
leave a voicemail.
Unlimited file transfers — Send files to your contacts. There are no file size or
bandwidth restrictions.
Gmail notifications on your desktop — Notification of new messages in your Gmail
inbox.
Chatback Badge - Offer free live chat on your web site.
Google Friend Connect
http://www.google.com/friendconnect/home/overview?hl=en_US
Quickly add social features to your web site or blog.
Build your community
Anyone can join your site and discover other members by using information from
a variety of services, including Google, Yahoo, Twitter, AOL, orkut, and Plaxo,
strengthening your community as visitors become members.
Increase engagement
Choose social features from a catalog of gadgets created by Google and the
OpenSocial developer community to keep your visitors more deeply engaged with
your site and with each other. Includes polls, ratings/reviews, recommendations,
member profiles and more listed here.
No programming required
Copy and paste a few snippets of code into your site, and Friend Connect does
the rest.
Google Webmaster Central
http://www.google.com/webmasters/
Webmaster Tools helps you see how your site is performing in Google search
results, troubleshoot potential problems, and build Google-friendly sites.
Get Google's view of your site and diagnose problemsSee how Google
crawls and indexes your site and learn about specific problems they're having
accessing it.
Discover your link and query trafficView, classify, and download
comprehensive data about internal and external links to your site with link
reporting tools. Find out which Google search queries drive traffic to your site,
and see exactly how users arrive there.
Share information about your siteTell Google about your pages with Sitemaps:
which ones are the most important to you and how often they change. You can
also let the know how you would like the URLs they index to appear.
Blogger
https://www.blogger.com
Create a custom, hosted blog with features such
as photo publishing, comments, group blogs,
blogger profiles and mobile-based posting with
little technical knowledge.
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Free
Simple-to-use interface
Redirect to custom domain
Change appearance with templates
Add photos and videos
Interact with readers
Add feeds for readers to follow
Allow a team to add or edit content
http://cvmsummit.blogspot.com/
Google Checkout:
http://www.google.com/nonprofits/checkouttutorial.html
Collect online donations quickly and easily.
• Increase donations to your organization with a
streamlined checkout process that allows your
supporters to quickly and easily make online donations
with a single login.
• Process online donations for free until 2010 if your
organization is a Google Grants recipient. All other nonprofits can access low standard rates.
• Lowers the costs and risks associated with managing
sensitive data.
Info Line's donation page:
http://infolineinc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=81&Itemid=100
Google Groups
http://groups.google.com/
Search or browse for information
Want to learn about car repair? Have a question about computers? You can find a
discussion or a group about it.
Make a group of your own
Why not start your own group for your organization or topic? Creating a group is easy
– just pick a name and start inviting members.
Join a group
Find something you like? Join right away, or request an invitation if it's a private group.
This service is very similar to the Yahoo Groups service used by the AIRSNetworker
and others.
Sample Group
http://groups.google.com/group/ohiotaxonomy
Google Reader
http://www.google.com/reader
With Google Reader, keeping up with your favorite websites is as easy as
checking your email.
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Stay up to date. Google Reader constantly checks your favorite news sites
and blogs for new content. You choose the sites you want to follow.
Share with your coworkers and friends. Use Google Reader's built-in public
page to easily share interesting articles.
Use it anywhere, for free, without any software to install.
Google Sites
http://www.google.com/sites/help/intl/en/overview.html
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Makes creating and sharing a group website or wiki extremely easy
Single-click page creation
No HTML required
Customizable look and feel
Settings for accessing and sharing information
https://sites.google.com/a/211us.org/webinars/
Let's create a sample site!
Google Translate
http://translate.google.com
Quickly translate text or an entire web site.
Google Voice
https://www.google.com/voice
Google Voice is a service that gives you one number for all your phones, voicemail that is
easy as email, and enhanced calling features like call blocking and screening, voicemail
transcripts, call conferencing, international calls, and more.
Google number - One number for all your calls
Call screening - Announce and screen callers
Listen in - Listen before taking a call
Block calls - Keep unwanted callers at bay
SMS - Send, receive, and store SMS
Place calls - Call US numbers for free
Taking calls - Answer on any of your phones
Phone routing - Phones ring based on who calls
Forwarding phones - Add phones and decide which ring
Google voicemail - Voicemail as easy as email
Voicemail transcripts - Read what your voicemail says
Listen to voicemail - Check online or from your phone
Notifications - Receive voicemails via email or SMS
Personalize greeting - Vary greetings by caller
Share voicemail - Forward or download voicemails
Voice features - More cool things
Conference calling - Join people into a single call
Call record - Record calls and store them online
Call switch - Switch phones during a call
Mobile site - View your inbox from your mobile
GOOG-411 - Check directory assistance
Manage groups - Set preferences by group
Google Voice
(continued)
Call Me Button: Allows others to call you from your website or blog by adding a call
widget to it. Visitors to the website can click the widget, enter their phone number,
and Google Voice will call them and connect the call to your Google number or
forward it to another number.
Google Voice on Info Line's web site:
http://infolineinc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=68
Picasa 3
http://picasa.google.com/
Organize: Manage your photos in one place, and find photos you forgot you had
Edit: Eliminate scratches & blemishes, fix red-eye, crop and more
Create: Turn photos into movies, collages, slideshows and more
Share: Upload seamlessly to Picasa Web Albums to share with anyone
YouTube - Nonprofit Program
http://www.youtube.com/nonprofits
Video is a powerful way to show your organization's impact and needs, and with a designated "Nonprofit"
channel you can deliver your message to the world's largest online video community. Benefits include:
• Premium branding capabilities and increased uploading capacity
• The option to drive fundraising through a Google Checkout "Donate" button
• Listing on the Nonprofit channels and the Nonprofit videos pages
• Ability to add a Call-to-action overlay on your videos to drive campaigns
The Basics - Best Practices from YouTube
• Reach Out. Post videos that get YouTube viewers talking, and then stay in the conversation with
comments and video responses.
• Partner Up. Find other organizations on YouTube who complement your mission, and work together
to promote each other.
• Keep It Fresh. Put up new videos regularly and keep them short—ideally under 5 minutes.
• Spread Your Message. One of the key features of YouTube is the ability of users to view its videos on
web pages outside the site.Share links and the embed code for your videos with supporters so they
can help get the word out.
• Be Genuine. High view counts come from content that's compelling, rather than what's "hip."
Info Line's YouTube Channel - http://www.youtube.com/infolineinc
Google Health
https://www.google.com/health
Google Health provides a way for individuals to gather and share their health
information.
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Organize health information all in one place
Gather medical records from doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies
Share information securely with a family member, doctors or caregivers
Google Profile
http://www.google.com/profiles/me
A Google profile is simply how you present yourself
on Google products to other Google users.
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It allows you to control how you appear on
Google and tell others a bit more about who
you are.
You can easily share your web content on one
central location.
You can include, for example, links to your
blog, online photos, and other profiles such as
Facebook, LinkedIn, and more.
You have control over what others see. Your
profile won't display any private information
unless you've explicitly added it.
Google Latitude
http://www.google.com/latitude/intro.html
With Google Latitude, you can:
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See where your friends are and what
they are up to
Quickly contact them with SMS, IM, or
a phone call
Control your location and who gets to
see it
Use Google Latitude on your phone,
PC, or both.
iGoogle Start Page
Offers a personalized Google page. Add news, photos, weather, and stuff from across the
web to your page.
Example: http://partnerpage.google.com/infolineinc.org
Google Web Elements
http://www.google.com/webelements/
Quickly integrate some of Google’s most popular products, including Calendar, Search,
and Maps, directly into sites with a minimal amount of effort. Includes calendar,
conversations, maps, custom search, spreadsheets, videos and more.
Example of Google Web Elements in action:
http://infolineinc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=98&Itemid=128
Google Chrome
http://www.google.com/chrome
Google Chrome is a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated
technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier. It can replace Internet Explorer,
Firefox, etc.
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New Tab page
Application shortcuts
Dynamic tabs
Crash control
Incognito mode
Safe browsing
Instant bookmarks
Importing settings
Simpler downloads
Google Gears
http://gears.google.com
Google Gears is an open source browser extension that enables developers to
build web applications that run offline. With its local database, local server and
multi-threading features, it can also improve application performance, especially
with slow or unreliable Internet connections. Google Gears works across all
major browsers and platforms and is currently available for beta testing and
developer feedback.
Gears was designed to be used on both Google and non-Google sites. A
number of web applications currently make use of Gears, including two Google
products: Google Reader and Google Docs.
Google Products
- Search Products -
GOOG-411
http://www.google.com/goog411/index.html
Free directory assistance!
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You don't need a computer, an Internet connection, or even the keypad on your
phone or mobile device. GOOG-411 is voice-activated, so you can access it from
any phone (mobile or land line), in any location, at any time.
Dial (1-800) GOOG-411. Say where. Say what you're looking for. GOOG-411 will
connect you with the business you choose.
If you are calling from a mobile device, GOOG-411 can even send you a text
message with more details and a map. Say "Text message" or "Map it."
Can even tell you the street intersections where a business is located.
For now only available in the US and Canada in English.
GOOG-411 uses listing information provided by Google Maps. To edit your business
information in GOOG-411, you can edit the information in Google Maps.
Google News
http://news.google.com/
Googe News gathers information from nearly 10,000 news sources worldwide
and presents news stories in a searchable format within minutes of their online
publication
Personalized News: Enables you to get news tailored specifically to your
interests. You can personalize your own Google News homepage by creating new
sections from your favorite searches and mixing and matching existing standard
sections from the regional and language editions of Google News.
Google Alerts
http://www.google.com/alerts?hl=en
Google Alerts are email updates of the
latest relevant Google results (web, news,
etc.) based on your choice of query or
topic.
Some handy uses of Google Alerts include:
• Monitoring a developing news story
• Keeping current on an industry
• Tracking stories about your agency
Google Trends and Insights
http://www.google.com/trends
TRENDS: Compare the world’s interest in your chosen topics. Enter up to five topics
and see how often they’ve been searched on Google over time. Google Trends also
shows how frequently your topics have appeared in Google News stories, and in which
geographic regions people have searched for them most.
http://www.google.com/insights/search/#
INSIGHTS: Compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, time
frames and properties. Narrow data to specific categories. Could be used to broadly
anticipate demand for service. See how search volume is distributed across regions
and cities.
Google Custom Search
http://www.google.com/coop/cse/
A Custom Search Engine is a tailored search experience, built using Google's core
search technology, that prioritizes or restricts search results based on websites and
pages you specify. Your Custom Search Engine can be tailored to reflect your point
of view or area of expertise. With a Custom Search Engine, you can:
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Apply your website's look and feel to the search results page.
Provide search refinements within results pages to make it easier for searchers
to find the information they're looking for.
Invite friends and trusted users to co-edit and contribute to your search engine.
Once you've defined your search engine index, Google will give you a simple piece
of code for a search box to place on your site or blog. You'll then have the option to
choose various customization options to make the look and feel and functionality of
your search engine your own.
Google Maps
http://maps.google.com/
Google Maps is a two-dimensional map service that you view in your web browser.
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Google Maps basic map tool - view a location, get driving directions
My Maps - create and save customized maps using your own data. Add place
markers with labels, descriptions, photos, video, and more.
Google Maps API - pull maps from Google into a Web site or online application to
offer dynamic, flexible functionality.
Street View
Custom Map - Food Pantries
Google Maps - continued
H1N1 Swine Flu Map
New Orleans Food
Goodwill Locator
Map embedded in web site
2000 Census Data
2007 San Diego Fires
Visit Google Maps Directory for additional public maps.
Google Search Options -
http://www.google.com/
Search Options is a collection of tools that let you slice and dice your results and generate
different views to find what you need faster and easier.
› All results
Videos
Forums
Reviews
› Any time
Recent results
Past 24 hours
Past week
Past year
› Standard results
Images from the page
More text
› Standard view
Related searches
Wonder Wheel
Timeline
Cool Google Search Tricks
Area Code: To see the geographical location for any U.S. telephone area code, just type the three-digit
area code into the Google search box and hit the Enter key or click the Google Search button.
Local Time: To see the time in most cities, type in time and the name of the city.
Weather: Type weather followed by the city and state, U.S. zip code, or city and country.
Calculator: Simply enter the calculation you'd like done into the search box.
Unit Conversion: Convert between many different units of measurement of height, weight, and volume
among many others. Just enter your desired conversion into the search box.
Dictionary: To see a definition for a word or phrase, simply type the word define then a space, then the
word(s) you want defined. To see a list of different definitions from various online sources, you can type
define: followed by a word or phrase.
Spell Checker: Automatically checks whether your query uses the most common spelling of a given word.
If it thinks you’re likely to generate better results with an alternative spelling, it will ask “Did you mean:
(more common spelling)?”.
Google Products
- Advertising -
Google Analytics
http://www.google.com/analytics/
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Understand how people interact with your website
Improve site content and design
Turn more visitors into donors
Engage the community
Google Adwords
http://www.google.com/grants/
Google AdWords enables advertisers to reach the people who are interested in their
products or services. Advertisers use our automated tools, often with little or no
assistance, to create ads, place bids to serve their ads, select the types of sites where
they'd like their ads to appear, and set daily spending budgets.
The Google Grants program provides free AdWords advertising for selected non-profit
organizations to help them promote their websites via advertising on Google. In-kind
online advertising account can be used it in a variety of ways, including general outreach,
fundraising activities, and recruitment of volunteers.
Google Products
- Enterprise -
Google Earth Pro
http://earth.google.com/
Google Earth is a virtual globe that lets you fly anywhere on Earth to view
satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings, data sets and more. You
can explore rich geographical content, save your toured places, and
share with others.
Google Earth Enterprise and Google Earth Pro enable businesses and
organizations to harness the power of the Google Earth platform to
integrate, organize and publish their organization's location data, and/or
support strategic decision-making based on locational datasets. Google
Earth provides a powerful, intuitive platform for supporting government
agencies and empowering citizens in sharing and accessing geographic
information for critical needs such as disaster relief and emergency
assistance. A FREE upgrade to Google Earth Pro (valued at $400) is
available to qualified non-profit organizations.
Google Earth - examples
Real Time Earthquakes
US Unemployment 2008
Appalachian Mountaintop Removal
More map examples - http://earth.google.com/outreach/showcase.html
Google SketchUp Pro
http://sketchup.google.com/
Google SketchUp is software that you can use to create 3D models of anything you like.
Get started right away: Most people get rolling with SketchUp in just a few minutes.
Dozens of video tutorials, an extensive Help Center and a worldwide user community are
available.
Model anything you can imagine: Then export an animation and share it on YouTube.
Get models online for free: You can build models from scratch, or you can download
what you need.
Google Appliances
The Google Search Appliance
Bring fast, relevant search to your website or intranet by using
familiar Google search to index most any type of data.
Google Mini
Brings Google search to small business websites or intranets,
indexing up to 300,000 documents and delivering secure, accurate
results for visitors or internal users.
NOTE: These enterprise products are not free. Pricing is based on the number
of documents that you want to search across and other factors.
Google Products
- Mobile Products -
Google Products for your phone
Offers Google products are built specifically for mobile devices.
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Search
Maps: Get draggable maps, directions, local listings, satellite imagery, and live
traffic info, all on your mobile device. Available on hundreds of devices, in a
wide variety of countries.
Gmail: The fastest way to access
SMS: Use text messaging to get quick info from Google, including local listings,
sports scores, weather conditions, real-time flight info, and much more.
YouTube: Watch, upload, and share videos
Calendar: Check your Google Calendar from anywhere on your mobile device.
News: Stay informed of global and local events by accessing top headlines
and searching for articles.
Blogger: Snap a picture, write a message, and post to your blog from a mobile
device.
Picasa Web Albums: View your photo albums on your mobile device.
Checkout: Shop quickly and securely on mobile-friendly merchant sites.
NOTE: Google doesn't charge you to access Google products from a mobile phone, but depending
on your service plan, you may be charged by your mobile provider for text message or data network
usage. Check with your provider for more information about fees associated with accessing the
Internet from your mobile phone.
Just Announced
- Google Wave -
Google Wave
- announced May 28, 2009
http://wave.google.com/
Google Wave is a real-time communication platform. It combines aspects of email,
instant messaging, wikis, web chat, social networking, and project management to
build an in-browser communication client.
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Real-time: See what someone else is typing, character-by-character.
Embeddability: Waves can be embedded on any blog or website.
Applications and Extensions: Developers can build their own apps within
waves.
Wiki functionality: Anything written within a Google Wave can be edited by
anyone else, because all conversations within the platform are shared.
Open source: The code will be open source, to foster innovation and adoption.
Playback: You can playback any part of the wave to see what was said.
Natural language: Google Wave can autocorrect your spelling or auto-translate
on-the-fly.
Drag-and-drop file sharing: No attachments; just drag your file and drop it
inside Google Wave and everyone will have access.
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Thanks to Mashable.com for this excellent summary of Google Wave.
Google Wave - continued
Potential Concerns
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Security
Reliability - http://www.google.com/appsstatus#
Changes to pricing - will it always be free?
Privacy
Learning curve
Offline access
Some features may be blocked by company network
What are your concerns?
Other similar resources
Online Workspace
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Zoho.com
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Microsoft Office Workspace Live
Image Editing and Sharing
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Picnik.com
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Pixlr.com
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Fotoflexer.com
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Paint.net
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Flickr.com
Sites
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Wikispaces.com
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PBWiki.com
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BasecampHQ.com
Document Collaboration and Sharing
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Getbackboard.com
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Writeboard.com
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Scribd.com
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Docstoc.com
iGoogle
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Netvibes.com
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Pageflakes.com
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Symbaloo.com
Maps
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Yahoo
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Mapquest
Payments
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Paypal
Calendar
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RememberTheMilk.com
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Mozilla Lightning or Sunbird
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Yahoo Calendar
Blogs
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Wordpress
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Typepad
Web Site Tracking
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Statcounter.com
Voice and Phone Tools
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Skype
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RingCentral
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JahJah
Contact Information
Tim Hite
Resource Coordinator
Info Line, Inc. / 2-1-1 Summit
703 South Main Street, Suite 211
Akron, OH 44311
Phone: 330-315-1402
Email: thite@infolineinc.org
Twitter: twitter.com/infolineinc
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Akron-OH/Info-Line-Inc/59040504435
www.infolineinc.org
www.211Summit.org