Rheingold U's curation curriculum provides the means to deliberately take control of a subject area, to own it, to extend it, to establish an authoritative position, and to generate the network of co-generators and follower/consumers.
Dealing effectively with the sheer quantity of new information being generated is but one dimension that needs to be considered; the source of this information, its taxonomic structuring, its semantic applicability, and its social context all must be considered as part of the overall context for understanding.
This is further compounded by the exponential increase in personalization of distribution channels -- the capacity to annotate, bookmark, and establish further context around both discrete information artifacts and around information flows represents additional demands on the curator.
Diigo, Storify, Paper.li, Scoop.it, and Pearltrees.
“Curation comes up when search stops working,” says author and NYU Professor Clay Shirky. But it’s more than a human-powered filter. “Curation comes up when people realize that it isn’t just about information seeking, it’s also about synchronizing a community.”
For creators — people who’ve spent their careers making content and trying to sort out an economic model — curation can seem like an end-run around hard work. And so the conflict ultimately comes down to this: Is curation about saving money? Or about adding value? The answer, it appears, is “yes” to both.