Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/9825
ROB SACCONE XMLAW Getting Social with SharePoint L aw firms today are using SharePoint to easily share information and content with one another across multiple offices and practice groups. For most firms, keeping that data updated and accurate, and pulling content, financials, biographical information and contacts into one easy-to-view portal, has transformed the way they work, improved efficiencies and helped them operate as one global firm rather than disparate groups. For many firms, however, this is just a first step; many want to make their intranet sites more interactive so that their attorneys and staff can share expertise, publish blog content, receive RSS feeds and learn about each other’s valuable relationships. Although SharePoint 2007 offered some social networking capabilities, SharePoint 2010 offers a new set of social tools. It’s a good fit for firms ready to move beyond just data sharing to more connectivity and interaction with colleagues in a meaningful way. SOCIAL TOOLS OF SHAREPOINT: START WITH MY SITE SharePoint 2007 introduced a feature called My Site. With My Site, attorneys and staff can customize the content and layout of their own pages; publish their experience and expertise; and indicate their interests, activities and the events they will be attending. They 40 Microsoft ILTA White Paper also can easily share this information with others at the firm. SharePoint 2010 raises the bar with My Site by adding several new features that make it a more capable sharing and collaboration tool. • My Profile: Each intranet user can have his or her own profile page to share personal information including biographical data, education, interests, skills and experience. • Activity Feeds: SharePoint 2010 introduces a Facebook-style activity feed that can automatically track and share a user’s activities throughout the portal. Users can also publish activity updates that other users can follow. • My Network and the Organization Browser: Using the My Network feature, users can automatically track activity feeds from selected colleagues. • Tags, Ratings and Bookmarks: My Site has tools for accessing and organizing tagged content and shared bookmarks throughout the portal. Each user can tag virtually any piece of information in the intranet, making it easier to find later as well as to share that content with others in the firm.