Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 is a way of communication for the 21st century library and classroom. Communication between students, teachers, parents and administrators is key in helping everyone be a success. 2.0 should be used to integrate technology and collaboration in a way that it enhances curriculum, learning, and reading in the classroom and library. 2.0 technologies enable a child to collaborate with other students and teachers not only in the classroom, but while they are at home as well. As a teacher I did a lot of collaborative group work that could only be done in the class because students could not get together as a group outside of class. By using 2.0 technologies such as wikis this is not an issue anymore. Students are able to work on an assignment at the same time, but be in their own homes. How awesome is that? I also love the use of blogs when I am trying to get reviews for books or book recommendations for the library. Your students can be a key resource in finding items to add to the library. There are also many free sources for student email accounts such as gaggle.net. Gaggle.net email accounts are filtered for school use and it also has discussion groups that can be done in the classroom between teacher and students. This provides a great opportunity for students to ask questions and get multiple answers and ideas. As a librarian I also use a website by Google, http://sites.google.com/site/braveslibrary/ to get information to my patrons. It houses information about research, book reviews, our OPAC, athletics, important dates, and much more. The 21st century library is becoming more technology oriented and it is only going to continue to evolve that way in the future.
