What is Web 2.0? Should You Care?

Legal tech gurus Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell
introduce us to Web 2.0 in their recent article
in Law Practice Today (January, 2006).

What is Web 2.0? According to the authors,
"it's a set of new technologies that is making
the Internet more interactive for its users."
The controversial open-contentWikepedia is
cited as an example of Web 2.0, while the online
Britannica is an example of plain ol' Web 1.0.

How does this emerging technology impact
on the law and legal research? The legal
world is jumping on the 2.0 bandwagon and
developing law related open-content projects.
Examples of Web 2.0 projects in the legal arena
include:

Wikilaw, a legal encyclopedia devised by
two law school grads that allows anyone to edit
any page. "Theoretically, the community of
users keeps the content accurate and
up-to-date." Will your students be citing to
Wikilaw?

WEX, Cornell Legal Information Institute's new
online legal encyclopedia, was developed along the
lines of Wikipedia, but with editors and
'vetted' contributors.

Kennedy's and Mighell's article link to a number
of sources where you can learn more about Web 2.0.
Of particular interest is their recent roundtable discussion,
Does Web 2.0 Point Us Toward Law 2.0?