Web 2.0

The strength of interactive Web 2.0 technology is the ability for the creation of unique content. It is the unique content that brings the most popular websites readers and increases their esteemed "worth." The term Web 2.0 is pretty far reaching and can encompass everything from comments on a news website or blog, photo sharing sites, the ever-expanding world of wikis, social networking platforms like Facebook, and social tagging or bookmarking technologies. In fact, it's fairly rare to find a website these days that doesn't incorporate some aspect of Web 2.0 programming.

It is inevitable that most Web 2.0 technologies are constantly in a state of beta, designers continually tweaking and adapting the program according to the feedback they receive from users. Therefore, perhaps ironically, Web 2.0 design is itself interactive. You could say that social media has "transformed the Internet into a participatory experience." And in an egalitarian sort of way, Web 2.0 sites are breaking down traditional publishing hierarchies, making the Internet "a place where individuals can enter into conversations with content creators and contribute their own ideas and knowledge to the discussion." They allow avenues of conversation where before there were no easy paths between creator and user.

And people are starting to expect that Web 2.0 features will play a role in the websites they visit and the daily activities they engage in. So like it or not, it is quickly becoming necessary for libraries and archives to jump on the Web 2.0 bandwagon. Discovering how to do that in a meaningful way will be crucial to the future use of library, museum, and archival institution websites, and maybe even libraries and archives themselves.


Daines, J. Gordon, III, and Cory L. Nimer. "The Interactive Archivist: Case Studies in Utilizing Web 2.0 to Improve the Archival Experience." May 18, 2009. http://interactivearchivist.archivists.org/