Web 2.0

Applications and features under the heading of Web 2.0 (O'Reilly 2005) have enhanced the range of what is technically possible and achievable by introducing an immense variety of simple to use tools which allow creation of content with only very minimal technical skills. Blogs, wikis and social networking all have their grounding in this type of technology. However much of what drives Web 2.0 was already technically possible some years ago (e.g. javascript, flash etc) however some new technologies, cheaper computing power (at home and server farm levels) and the rise of wifi has made delivery of services over a network become viable technically and economically. Thus most learners and researchers now have tools at their disposal that are incredibly powerful and often include free hosting for content, especially if published publicly.

Web 2.0 also allows the first user-friendly re-purposing and integration of content from other services and websites with feeds, podcasts and "widgets" all allowing dynamic content creation and cascading of information in very simple, platform neutral formats. Clearly there are already and will continue to be extremely fruitful scholarly uses for this technology with RSS feeds for scholarly journals, sharing of learning materials and the ability to add social dimensions and group collaboration to more traditionally top-down contexts.

However many see Web 2.0 as only part of the picture. Whilst web 2.0 has made the web more human friendly the sheer power of Google highlights the issue of how one navigates and interprets such a highly populated space. Many scholarly journals have barely exploited the possibilities of html let alone web 2.0 but this may just be a matter of waiting for the right time to take action as the emerging next generation of the web offers new possibilities for automation, improved navigation and more authoritative linking between resources.