Examination of the Internet Public Library as dynamic, collaborative teaching laboratory

The Internet Public Library (www.ipl.org) is a collaborative online learning environment that involves LIS faculty and students as well as working librarians around the world. Over the past twelve years, the IPL has become more collaborative with the introduction of new technologies and cultural changes. The IPL team consists of a variety of people from around the world: LIS faculty, IPL staff librarians, masters and doctoral students, working librarians, and technology specialists. Through the IPL, library and information professionals are being prepared to meet the challenges and opportunities of the digital environment: the dynamic nature of information technology, changing social and cultural norms, and an abundance of freely available content are presented in the digital reference environment. Extensive training material has been prepared by the IPL staff and feedback is provided to students by IPL staff, faculty and volunteers. In addition to the learning environment, the IPL also offers a test bed for research related to collaborative online learning environments. For examples, questions such as the role of Web 2.0 resources such as Wikipedia, Facebook, MySpace and other social computing sites will be explored