[MCN-L] Switching to Gmail
At the Hall of Science, we switched to the Google Enterprise Applications platform about 14 months ago. Other than some hiccups when Google had an outage, the experience has been excellent. GMail is everything that the free version is, but without ads. You can make full use of the Labs add-ons which has allowed customizations that make switching away from a mail-reader/integrated organization system like Outlook much easier. Many of us set a reader like Mail.app to start up on a weekly basis, download our mail to a local file, and keep a nice, searchable backup if GMail goes down. The Calendaring system has been an excellent way for us to pull together a number of disparate systems into something that can be easily shared, the Sites functionality has eliminated the need for an "intranet," and little tools like chat and ability to SMS from within do change communication speeds (granted, not always for the better- but that's a human issue, not the tools). And syncing contacts is gloriously easy. Now, before I start sounding like a Google evangelist: I would call Google Docs a work in progress. While it does allow for faster collaboration and less headaches when Windows, Mac, and Linux people send out documents, it's not as full featured as MS Office (or OpenOffice), and on more than one occasion I have switched to OOo because the formatting in Docs was driving me a little nuts (it can feel a little like WYSIWYG editing with Dreamweaver of years past). Additionally, the death of Google Gears has meant no offline docs right now. So we wait until HTML 5 implementation gets into full-swing. The package does not include tools like Maps, Earth, or Wave. Having the ability to create customizable map points from within your own domain (without having to write it yourself) would be very helpful for everything from invitations to exhibits to educational programs. Alas. Like everything, you win some and you lose some. But the overall experience has been pretty good, and far easier for people to wrap their heads around when learning- and our IT staff has been much happier since the switch. Hope that helps. .Daniel Daniel M. Bartolini Exhibitions New York Hall of Science 4701 111th Street Corona, NY 11368 [ p ] 718 . 699 . 0005 x391 Sign up for NYSCI e-news! www.nysci.org/newsletters On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 12:10 PM, Tim Atherton wrote: > The University of Alberta here recently switched/is switching their > whole email system to gmail. Not sure how it's going in practice, but > that's a pretty large switch (about 50,000 students and staff). > > > http://thegatewayonline.ca/articles/news/2010/01/25/google-s-gmail-selected-replace-email-service-across-campus > > > http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/University+Alberta+outsource+mail+Google/2433450/story.html > > tim > > > Tim Atherton > e. timatherton at telus.net > t. 780.292.3881 > archivist ? curator ? photographer > > > ?/The archives are comprehensive and totally secure, my young Jedi. > One thing you may be absolutely sure of - if an item does not appear > in our records, it does not exist!/? > Jocasta Nu - Jedi Archivist > ___ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer > Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l > > The MCN-L archives can be found at: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/ >
[MCN-L] Switching to Gmail
The University of Alberta here recently switched/is switching their whole email system to gmail. Not sure how it's going in practice, but that's a pretty large switch (about 50,000 students and staff). http://thegatewayonline.ca/articles/news/2010/01/25/google-s-gmail-selected-replace-email-service-across-campus http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/University+Alberta+outsource+mail+Google/2433450/story.html tim Tim Atherton e. timatherton at telus.net t. 780.292.3881 archivist ? curator ? photographer ?/The archives are comprehensive and totally secure, my young Jedi. One thing you may be absolutely sure of - if an item does not appear in our records, it does not exist!/? Jocasta Nu - Jedi Archivist
[MCN-L] Switching to Gmail
John - >From what I've seen, g-mail can be a wonderful solution for organizations of >all size. It seems to be extremely scalable, and can be integrated with >active directory and other Microsoft network management tools fairly easily. >I have personally recommended g-mail as a viable solution for various (usually >smaller) non-profit organizations, but have yet to seriously consider using it >for our own organization. Despite all the cost benefits and ease of >integration I have a bit of trouble allowing any of the Internet giants to >"own" our e-mail data, and have some (albeit minor) concerns about relying on >Google for consistent up-time and access. Google has a fairly comprehensive and liberal privacy policy at this point, but if Facebook is any indicator, we need to remember that privacy policies and terms of use for organizational data mining can be changed at any time at the whim of the service provider. I remain a bit uncomfortable putting all my eggs in the "Google Basket", and trusting them with our organizational data. As long as we have the infrastructure and resources to maintain our own e-mail system I'll likely not look in the direction of Google for solutions, but can certainly understand the benefits of doing so for other institutions. When considering Google for service provision I think there has to be some more dialog around the current and future terms of use for organizational data and privacy. I'm wary of anything that is free. ; ) Privacy has become the new currency, and I recommend this Newsweek ed-op by Daniel Lyons that briefly echoes some of my concerns: http://www.newsweek.com/id/233773 "The genius of Google, Facebook, and others is that they've created services that are so useful or entertaining that people will give up some privacy in order to use them. Now the trick is to get people to give up more?in effect, to keep raising the price of the service." Good luck! : ) Marc Check Director of Technology, Strong National Museum of Play? Information Technology Manager, American Journal of Play Associate Director, International Center for the History of Electronic Games? One Manhattan Square Rochester, NY 14607 Direct Line: 585-410-6323 Fax: 585-263-2493 cell: 585-755-8622 Email: mcheck at museumofplay.org Website(s): www.museumofplay.org, www.americanjournalofplay.org, www.icheg.org
[MCN-L] Switching to Gmail
While there are some nice features to Google Apps a lot depends on the commitment of Google to maintaining iy, and not one day suddenly increasing the price 50%. But other questions that come to mind include what happens if you can't connect to the Internet, security of your information and while many components are compatible with Office my understanding is that the Google database is not as robust as Access. I guess it all depends on your institutions needs and your staff's willingness to move to a new system. Frank Thomson, Curator Asheville Art Museum PO Box 1717 Asheville, NC 28802 828.253.3227 fthomson at ashevilleart.org www.ashevilleart.org -Original Message- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu] On Behalf Of peter_g...@whitney.org Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 5:12 PM To: mcn-l at mcn.edu Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Switching to Gmail If anyone has a list of pros/cons or other considerations in switching from Exchange to Gmail, I'd love to see it. What does Exchange do that Gmail can't, or MS Office that Google docs doesn't? The pros seem to be obvious and are advertised on Google's website, but have you or your end-users experienced any negatives? Thanks, Peter -Original Message- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-boun...@mcn.edu] On Behalf Of Marlo Lee Sent: Monday, March 15, 2010 9:57 PM To: Museum Computer Network Listserv Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Switching to Gmail Ari, I wouldn't have considered that point because I assumed SOX only applied to publicly traded companies. Good to know. On Monday, March 15, 2010, Ari Davidow wrote: >>And imagine never thinking about archiving (and retrieving archived >>messages!) spam, or user admin > > This raises some interesting red flags. There is no SOA such that > storage on Google Gmail or Apps would constitute appropriate archiving > for SOX or other legal compliance issues. If you have no liabilities > looking ahead, then you are okay; if not, you still need some method > of archiving and preserving access to this stuff. > > ari > ___ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l > > The MCN-L archives can be found at: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/ > ___ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l The MCN-L archives can be found at: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/ ___ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l The MCN-L archives can be found at: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/
[MCN-L] Switching to Gmail
If anyone has a list of pros/cons or other considerations in switching from Exchange to Gmail, I'd love to see it. What does Exchange do that Gmail can't, or MS Office that Google docs doesn't? The pros seem to be obvious and are advertised on Google's website, but have you or your end-users experienced any negatives? Thanks, Peter -Original Message- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-boun...@mcn.edu] On Behalf Of Marlo Lee Sent: Monday, March 15, 2010 9:57 PM To: Museum Computer Network Listserv Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Switching to Gmail Ari, I wouldn't have considered that point because I assumed SOX only applied to publicly traded companies. Good to know. On Monday, March 15, 2010, Ari Davidow wrote: >>And imagine never thinking about archiving (and >> retrieving archived messages!) spam, or user admin > > This raises some interesting red flags. There is no SOA such that > storage on Google Gmail or Apps would constitute appropriate archiving > for SOX or other legal compliance issues. If you have no liabilities > looking ahead, then you are okay; if not, you still need some method > of archiving and preserving access to this stuff. > > ari > ___ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l > > The MCN-L archives can be found at: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/ > ___ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l The MCN-L archives can be found at: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/
[MCN-L] Switching to Gmail
We use Google Docs extensively at the Magnes for collaborating on inventory, determining deaccessions, and tracking software bugs. That being said, we also use MS Office for the majority of tasks for the following reasons: 1) formatting 2) sharing (not everyone can use Google Docs if we send them a link) 3) templates (like letterhead, etc) 4) image-embedded documents 5) Powerpoint has many more features than Google Doc's slideshow functionality 6) Not all of our staff are computer-savvy enough or comfortable with using web-based apps, and we don't have the time or staff to train them otherwise. We have also considered moving from our MS Exchange server to Google, but we want more control over our assets, and we don't have the physical infrastructure to support everyone working online (seriously - I have to do offside database backups over the weekend when no one's going to be using the interwebs around here). ~Perian
[MCN-L] Switching to Gmail
>And imagine never thinking about archiving (and > retrieving archived messages!) spam, or user admin This raises some interesting red flags. There is no SOA such that storage on Google Gmail or Apps would constitute appropriate archiving for SOX or other legal compliance issues. If you have no liabilities looking ahead, then you are okay; if not, you still need some method of archiving and preserving access to this stuff. ari
[MCN-L] Switching to Gmail
Ari, I wouldn't have considered that point because I assumed SOX only applied to publicly traded companies. Good to know. On Monday, March 15, 2010, Ari Davidow wrote: >>And imagine never thinking about archiving (and >> retrieving archived messages!) spam, or user admin > > This raises some interesting red flags. There is no SOA such that > storage on Google Gmail or Apps would constitute appropriate archiving > for SOX or other legal compliance issues. If you have no liabilities > looking ahead, then you are okay; if not, you still need some method > of archiving and preserving access to this stuff. > > ari > ___ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer > Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l > > The MCN-L archives can be found at: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/ >
[MCN-L] Switching to Gmail
We recently switched to Gmail, and so far it's been great. We've had it since last October with good results. I believe the reason for the change was partially switching our website off an old host (which had the email as well), and also problems with the email crashing. People generally seem to be happy with the features of gmail, including being able to access it from home easily, and also add it easily to some cell phones. Diane. == Diane Lee, Collections Manager ? 860-236-5621 x242 Connecticut Historical Society -Original Message- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-boun...@mcn.edu] On Behalf Of John Bedard Sent: Monday, March 15, 2010 5:02 PM To: mcn LISTSERV Subject: [MCN-L] Switching to Gmail At the Portland MCN conference Andrew Ruginis of the Field Museum in Chicago did a presentation on switching to Google Mail. We are now in the process of considering a similar move. Has anybody else done a serious evaluation of moving to Google Mail? If so, are you willing to share your experience and the reasons you either made the move or did not make the move? John ___ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l The MCN-L archives can be found at: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/
[MCN-L] Switching to Gmail
At the Portland MCN conference Andrew Ruginis of the Field Museum in Chicago did a presentation on switching to Google Mail. We are now in the process of considering a similar move. Has anybody else done a serious evaluation of moving to Google Mail? If so, are you willing to share your experience and the reasons you either made the move or did not make the move? John
[MCN-L] Switching to Gmail
I assume you're talking about Google Apps so you can have an institutional domain? We switched over to Google Apps over a year ago and have loved everything about it. It's extremely cheap, but still reliable and flexible. The switchover was painless and the administration of the account (and the end user accounts) is dead simple. We use all the tools every day - video, voice and text messaging, Google Docs, file storage, calendars, etc. I have about 20k messages in my mailbox (including all the attachments I've sent or received) and I've still only used 7% of my allotted mail storage. Imagine never needing to harass your users about attachment size or cleaning out their mail accounts. And imagine never thinking about archiving (and retrieving archived messages!) spam, or user admin. And have your boss imagine you never asking for a new server, or an upgrade to Exchange, or hearing complaints from your end users. It's a no-brainer. Marlo Luna Imaging, Inc. On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 2:20 PM, Diane Lee wrote: > We recently switched to Gmail, and so far it's been great. We've had it > since last October with good results. I believe the reason for the change > was partially switching our website off an old host (which had the email as > well), and also problems with the email crashing. People generally seem to > be happy with the features of gmail, including being able to access it from > home easily, and also add it easily to some cell phones. > > Diane. > > == > Diane Lee, Collections Manager ? 860-236-5621 x242 > Connecticut Historical Society > > -Original Message- > From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu] On Behalf Of > John > Bedard > Sent: Monday, March 15, 2010 5:02 PM > To: mcn LISTSERV > Subject: [MCN-L] Switching to Gmail > > At the Portland MCN conference Andrew Ruginis of the Field Museum in > Chicago > did a presentation on switching to Google Mail. We are now in the process > of considering a similar move. Has anybody else done a serious evaluation > of moving to Google Mail? If so, are you willing to share your experience > and the reasons you either made the move or did not make the move? > > John > ___ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer > Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l > > The MCN-L archives can be found at: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/ > > > ___ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer > Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l > > The MCN-L archives can be found at: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/ >
