Web 2.0 productivity tools emcompasses quite a broad spectrum of technologies. Like most knowledge workers, email has become one of my core applications and a battle to manage, both in terms of time and storage. My employer has a 90 day email retention policy, which means if you have not moved messages to a folder from your Inbox, they are sent to Deleted items after 90 days. Then 90 days later they are purged from your deleted folder. The same applies to Sent items. This incents one to do something with most messages. Most of the productivity articles advise keeping your Inbox emptied and setting specified times each day to check email instead of checking it constantly. I get all of my library notifications via email. I find it much less annoying that the old phone recordings!
I confess I do not use instant messaging a lot. We set up Meebo accounts in class and sent messages back and forth. You can meebo me from the widget in the sidebar!
I have used web conferencing extensively. It is a great tool for conducting live tutorials across distance. It can also be used for collaboration or for resolving technology problems (IT departments use it a lot!).
