One of the great benefits of the server-side software revolution known as web 2.0 is that it allows users to contribute and collaborate in building websites and organizing information resources.

By now, most people are probably familiar with the blog format of combining news and content posts with open commenting system. Mainstream newspapers have incorporated a lot of blogging technology into their own websites, allowing a broader discussion and more interaction between the writers and readers.

Another 2.0 breakthrough that hasn’t quite yet matured is social bookmarking and news submission communities. Once users register, they can submit links to interesting websites based on a selection of categories relevant to the topic of the social bookmarking site. Once a new page is submitted, other users can view the links, vote, or comment on the quality of the site. The best sites will make it to the front page, and the process creates a democratic ranking system that helps filter the noise out of the internet without necessarily decreasing or compressing the total volume. The site provides its users with a constantly updated front page of the best of the internet – and great publishers can get great exposure if their articles are particularly interesting and entertaining.

One area it hasn’t caught on as much is in education-specific fields. The educational information on the internet is incredibly fragmented, and there is no real central hub where it can be accessed, discussed, and prioritized. This is where my 2.0 education bookmarking site Scholar Links comes into being. At the moment it isn’t much more than a beta site built on beta software, but as it grows it will be a place where the democracy of the internet can rate, promote, and discuss some of the literally millions of valuable educational links on the internet. If you find something of worth, you can share it here. If you publish your own education site, it could be a useful source of education niche backlinks.