OnlyOffice supports the co-creation of text, document, spreadsheets and presentation files and includes a “group talk” function as well as commenting, so there is less email exchange. OnlyOffice makes it easier to collaborate on writing and publishing project work or scholarship as documents (as well as data)

Researchers developing research project proposals, writing up articles or grant applications, commonly work collaboratively on documents and in parallel have multiple threads in emails and chat systems.

Increasingly they gather and share data and create and publish documents associated with their research with partners all over the world. This ideas exchange was once known as the Republic of Letters, and now the reality for researchers is an overstuffed email box.

The OnlyOffice document editor feature in CloudStor helps solve the overstuffed email box problem and saves researchers time

What makes OnlyOffice in CloudStor different?

OnlyOffice works in the browser like the other document management services available to researchers, and the files are saved and synced across the multi-node cloud storage service and on the advanced research network.

OnlyOffice files can be shared and worked on with research partners across Australia (using the Australian Access Federation authentication and authorisation) and internationally. So researchers can think and work globally and act and operate on cloud services maintained locally, within Australia, designed to meet the needs of research.

Many ways to share documents

CloudStor has a “share” system that enables researchers to make their documents and their data available in different ways, i.e. to individual or groups of collaborators, by password or setting a timer. All the other functions of CloudStor, i.e. file-sending, encryption and packaging, can be used too to secure and bundle research related documents to peers all over the world.

As an example, a researcher can load data and write up a quick readme document to guide their colleagues in working with data they are contributing to an inter-institutional and international project.

Multi-functional research data platform

With the addition of OnlyOffice to CloudStor it is easier to do project and scholarly documentation work in the same platform that research data is stored in and worked on.

Researchers are now able to write up their work, and, view, move, or process research data files in the MB-TB scale from the same platform. This can make running research projects just a little easier especially if research involves doing interviews and working with video or capturing their observations in high-quality JPEG or TIFF image files.

The days of working with the constraints of local file systems, two or more platforms, and on the desktop to get your research done are gladly diminishing.

Author: Ingrid Mason, AARNet eResearch Deployment Strategist