If you're brand spanking new to Web 2.0, you need to pull up your sleeves and get your hands dirty. You won't be able to understand it unless you actually do it.

Concerned about protecting your computer from viruses and such? One way I minimize the risk is by checking del.icio.us. Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking site which basically means you can check to see what everyone else is bookmarking. If hundreds and thousands of people are bookmarking a site, I'm guessing that they like these websites and that downloading the software from these sites hasn't caused them any problems.

Concerned about creating an account and having sites spam you? There may actually be sites that do that, but again, I check the larger community through del.icio.us. If that many people like these sites, I'm not too concerned. And I haven't had any problems with receiving spam.

Here's a site catered to LIS professionals in schools, so it's actually designed to take you step by step into Web 2.0, introducing you to the technologies and encouraging you to interact with them. You can enroll (for free!) or work it at your own pace. Check out School Library Learning 2.0.

To get some more practice, check out this list of top Web 2.0 tools. See Seomoz.org's Web 2.0 Awards.


Read:

• Library 2.0 by Charles Sutton
• What's a Wiki? Wikis and Their Use in Libraries Julie Gerardin
• It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's Library 2.0 by M Ryan Hess
• Google Reader: A Tool You Should Use by Robert Boyd

Watch:

• Building Library 2.0 by Meredith Farkas
  

Wikis

Watch "Wikis in Plain English" by commoncraft



















RSS Feeds:

Read the School's explanation of RSS feeds and/or watch "RSS in Plain English" by commoncraft.