Sites like Scribd (or Docstoc, ThinkFree, insightory, Zoho Share, and Issuu) are used to publish documents on the web. Scribd currently has more than 50 million monthly users and more than 50,000 documents are uploaded daily.
What’s the big deal about that, you ask?
Well, it is a big deal. Imagine if you could find any document you’d like online
. . . for free.
Imagine reading your favorite work . . . or at least having access to it . . . all online.
Imagine that you not only could access and read your favorite work, but that you could also embed it on your blog or include a link to it.
Imagine that you can even upload your own documents and publish them . . . for free.
Perspective
Or if you are a bit more adventurous, Scribd allows you to publish for profit (Scribd keeps a certain percentage, of course).
BusinessWeek refers to Scribd as the YouTube of web publishing. Anyone can upload any documents they want.
Think about the possibilities.
Sure you could just copy and paste documents into your blog or website, but using a social publishing site (such as Scribd) offers several advantages.
First, you can embed them right into your blog. If you use Scribd.com, your document will appear as an iPaper. All major document types can be formatted into iPaper including Word docs, PowerPoint presentations, PDFs, OpenOffice documents, and PostScript files.
This offers you several advantages. You can move through the document page by page, you can search for articles or documents related to your iPaper, you can do a keyword search for the document, you can email the document to a friend, embed it into another site, or save the document to your computer. You can even read the iPaper as a fullscreen document.
Second, your documents will be stored on the social publishing site. For example, by creating a Scribd account, you can upload your documents to their site. This serves as a back up for any of your documents or files. Also, this allows for other Scribd members to search and locate your document.
Third, by belonging to a social publishing site, you also have access to all the other documents uploaded to their site. Imagine the wealth of documentation at your fingertips.
If you have a Scribd account, you can also search their database for relevant documents. Say, you are starting a new AP Geography course (ha!). By perusing Scribd’s database, you can find various syllabi from other teachers, professors, and institutions. You can also find various assignments or texts related to your course.
Finally, it is an easy and free way to publish your work. Put your work out there for others around the world to read.
What can you upload and publish?
Syllabi
Assignments
Readings
That childhood memoir you’ve been meaning to write for so long now.
That thesis you’ve been meaning to get written (yes, you know who you are!)
Student work
Lesson plans
Our Challenge to You:
- Search Scribd (or a site like it) to locate a document that you find interesting or relevant.
- Share that article using one of the social networking features explored in previous challenges (Facebook, Twitter, Digg . . .) with others who might find it interesting.
- Next, embed that article in a blog entry.
- Did you find this challenge easy or difficult to complete?
- Is this a Web 2.0 tool that you will continue to use? Why or why not?
- How might this impact the classroom?
- Upload a document of your own to Scribd (see suggestions above).
- Post it to your blog through Scribd.
Anyone Care to Post Some Textbooks on Scribd? - by ZDNet Education
Scribd - Presentation Software - by Web 2.0 and Education blog
Scribd Opens New Market for Online Texts - by eSchool News
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