Thank you to the publisher, i30 Media Corp., and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of <i>Google Drive & Docs In 30 Minutes</i> in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.



<u>The Gist</u>

I never gave much thought to things like online drives and being able to access files across various computers. At some point I thought it might come in handy, but that was about it.

Then we got thrown into the lockdown era, when working from home became the relative norm. I was amazed by all that could be done remotely and could have used some guidance on how to use Google Drive back then.

Anyway, I learned a little through trial and error and clicking a whole bunch of buttons just to see what would happen.

But, this guidebook helped me get a bit more confidence in using Google Drive without breaking into a nervous sweat.


<u>The Details</u>

I appreciated the tone of the writing. It doesn’t sound stuffy or condescending. It’s welcoming and patient in helping the reader get started.

The chapters are well organized. They are easy to follow and the author doesn’t shy away from admitting that some aspects, such as the mobile app, are beyond the scope of the guide and offers links to find more assistance.


<u>The Verdict</u>

Overall, this is a good place to start learning Google Drive.

This has some really useful tips to anyone unfamiliar with Google docs. Very well presented. I will definitely feel more confident going forward.

A relatively good, quick, practical overview of Google Drive & Docs. Some of the "how to access" information was repetitive, but useful if you are looking up a specific item that you need help with and therefore don't want to go to several sections to find the pertinent data. For a long time Google user, I didn't learn very much but could have used something like this when I was first starting out and making mistakes left and right.

The full title is Google Drive & Docs In 30 Minutes: The unofficial guide to Google Drive, Docs, Sheets & Slides by Ian Lamont. I think this is an excellent introductory guide and reference book.

I’ve used Google Drive a little bit, especially Google Docs and I find 30 minutes to be overly optimistic. In 30 minutes you can enjoy the author’s overview which I found helpful and well done.

The explanations on using the various applications and how they fit together are also very helpful but I think being able to do a good job with any of them would require much more than 30 minutes He is very clear that these are free applications and someone may need a more polished product for presentations.

But there is much that can be done and done well with these free tools.

They may be more than adequate for many purposes. And why pay when free does the job. Many of us learn by trial and error and that takes time. Quite often a good reference is well worth the price.

--Useful, Time Saver--

I received a review copy from the publisher through NetGalley and here are my thoughts.

It is definitely a useful guide that can save you time in learning about Google Drive and Docs.

The definitions are short, clear and to the point.

If it had more graphics to accompany explanations, I'd give it 5 stars.

Google Drive & Docs In 30 Minutes is an instructional manual and an effective teaching guide. To benefit most from this book, you should have the Google Docs app open and in front of you so that the tricks and methods given can be immediately experimented with. The immediate use of the book's ‘How to’ instructions is the best way to learn and retain the information. Should you not need to become a skilled Google Docs user, you can still benefit from Google Drive & Docs In 30 Minutes by using it as a reference book for those times when you need to create and edit a Google Drive document.

The author, Ian Lamont, cautions the reader as to the limitations of Google Drive & Docs. He states that this online software is not a direct replacement for MS Office in situations calling for a heavily edited and formatted document or users of large spreadsheets. However, it is suitable for anyone with a mid-level document or spreadsheet need.

As mentioned, Google Drive & Docs is a good resource to have in your reference library. Not all of us can justify the cost of MS Office Suite for our home office word-processing, spreadsheet, or lecture slide needs. But by simply signing on to a Google account using any internet browser, you’ll have access to a decent set of web-based office apps that meet most of a typical user’s needs.

This covered more than I expected! I have used Google Drive, Docs, and Sheets for quite a while, so I didn't find much new there but I can see how useful it would be for someone who hasn't used these. Many of us use the Microsoft versions, but these are a good option for collaboration. (I have used these for a club where more than one person needed access to information that was updated often. I've also seen some book/reading challenges use them.)

I have not used Forms, Slides, or Drawing, so I found a lot of new ideas here! At the end, there is a "cheat sheet" of shortcut keys that is quite useful. This is a very good resource for those new to the Google suite.

This is an excellent Google Drive & Docs In 30 Minutes Reference guide. If you are a new user or even an experienced user, this is everything you need to know when using Google Drive.

I'm already using this suite regularly, so it wasn't really new information. I just wanted to know if I was missing something, or if there was a way to improve my experience.
I can say that it's pretty useful if you're a beginner, since it covers basically everything one should need when opening the suite for the first time. It could also work for an instruction manual for non-beginners too, since everything has a nice order and the informations can be found easily.
It might not be surprising, since it's quite similar ot other suites, but it's not wordy and says everything that needs to be said, so I would definitely recommend it to everyone who wants to start using Google Drive.

A useful guide for beginners to Google Drive and the Google office suite. Lamont breaks down each app into manageable steps with plenty of screenshots. This is not the prettiest layout, but it'll be helpful for anyone just learning Google software. And he includes lots of real-world examples to make it more approachable for non-business users.

During Covid and the great at home time, I had no access to my work PC. With only my iPad and iPhone what was I to do. Google was there with their suite of apps that made basic word processing and spreedsheets easy to use. Google Drive was so helpful when collaborating with other people and sharing files to edit.

However there was a learning curve, things worked differently and icons could be very different. I could not find the save button and without it how to I rename a file. Here is Ian Lamont with all the answers. This book was so helpful to a beginner at using these apps. Everything is explained in and easy to understand manner and is easy to find. No flipping through hundreds of pages to find the answer to a simple question.

Public libraries need to have one of these at their public access computers for customer reference.

Exactly what I needed to be able to help my child with her school work since they use Google Drive and Docs and I had no clue! Very helpful! #GoogleDriveDocsIn30Minutes #NetGalley

The book lives up to the title: it is a quick and easy read with enough basic information to get you started. Along with tips you'll also get suggestions on uses for each of the aps in the suite. There are many screen shots for reference to assist with covering the concepts.

The book goes over each of the aps so it is unlikely you'd read it all in one-go. Instead, you can spend a few minutes understanding the Drive interface at the beginning of the book and then proceed directly to the ap you want to learn to use. Most will likely gravitate to the document, spreadsheet, or slideshow creation applications.

Keep in mind that this is a survey course - it's not intended to show the full functionality or usage of each ap. e.g., the spreadsheet will give you a simple formula to show how to use it but you'll likely want to get a more in-depth book on spreadsheets for advanced work.

If I had one complaint, it's that I wish the screenshots were annotated. E.g., a number next to each of the areas of the screenshot that are then referenced in the text. You'll find that you have to do some searching in the picture to find a certain button or link. A good example is that a screenshot of the Drive page is given and then there are paragraphs describing everything on the page. This really could have used numbers on the screenshot to quickly locate the area being discussed.

In all, a quick and easy get-started guide. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

I read this book in one sitting and was informative. I would recommend it to those who have short period of time to learn an new application.

Yahoo! A instruction manual that did not scare me to death! I could not believe how easy I could understand what the author was explaining and I could follow the steps exactly without getting totally frustrated!

The book was setup well and it flowed from one topic to the next. The author knew his topic thoroughly.
I am not proficient at the computer, but I was able to keep up with these instructions.

I definitely would recommend this book.

I received a free advanced copy from NetGalley and these are my willingly given thoughts and opinions.

Just what is needed to understand Google Docs. Concise and much needed information on a common widely used platform

Four stars! This little guide has some very useful information and tips for the beginner and regular users alike. It's a handy reference that includes clear step-by-step instructions for those who want to use Google Drive.

This book was the best refresher on something I use day in and day out. For my job I am constantly using Google and all the nice applications that Google has to offer. This book was able to be read in 30 minutes and I will refer back to it. What I found most valuable was the Google Sheet and the Google Drive. I figured everyone using the Google products needed a gmail. I learned that anyone can access Google Docs, Sheets, etc.

I confess I am addicted to those 'Books for Dummies'. I've always found that I learn more tips and tricks from them than through any class or manual. I was intrigued by this title, Google Drive & Docs in 30 Minutes. I have spent much more than 30 minutes learning how the Google machine operates, and I was open to picking up some things I probably missed.
I have used Google sheets and documents for more than a year, but I still learned a few keyboard shortcuts. I would suggest this book to someone who is just starting to use this. Note to self: look for this kind of guide before fumbling around in the dark and getting frustrated trying to learn a new program. Also, you can easily read this in under 30 minutes, but I would follow along and try the information out while using Google. That will take a little more time, but it will be worth it.

It took a little more than 30 minutes, but even though I have used Google docs, sheets, slides, and sites for quite a while, it was still interesting, and I learned features I haven't tried before. It was also useful with the list of shortcuts. Basic information and easy to understand. A good guide to Google drive and docs.