So many to try/ Week 4

Week 4 concentrated on cloud booking marking tools Diigo and a curating tool Goggle Alerts, online tools for learning, storing, and organizing.  If only my private life could be categorized so easily and organized so efficiently!  Once I had established my account, it wasn't  difficult to add bookmarks and alerts.  I checked my Feedly account and found a few items of interest to me and I will share them further along in this posting

What I found interesting this week are the ideas surrounding curating content.  According to influential technical guru Robert Scoble, curating content will be "an essential 21st essential digital skill".  Curating content involves selecting and researching  the best information and then displaying it in a manner that makes it easy to understand and easy to find.  This can involve text or images or video or a combination of both.  The goal of curating content is to sift through the realms of information presented and then highlight, curate and organize the information.  Its not only a summary of information but provides expert opinions on the information.  As the expert curator on the topic, you are able to add your own comments and your own voice to the information.  Adding your own voice is especially important if as the curator you have created a blog on the topic.  Blog readers will gravitate to your information because you have presented it in a manner that provides interest.  Curating content is not just a summary of information.  As the curator, you must not only do the best research and use the best tools, you must add your own opinion and voice.

"Museum curator" (online image) retrieved from https://wamtac.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/edu_dawoud-bey-artist-in-residence-galleries_2009_084.jpg caption

I'm a fan of David Suzuki and have for some time received environment tips from the Queen of Green blog, so naturally I included this in my feedly account.  I like the idea of saving money, helping the environment and re-using items.  I have already incorporated the idea of  re-using the silica gel packs ( you find them in your vitamin containers) into my brown sugar and salt containers.  These little packages help absorb moisture and keep your sugar and salt from clumping together.  Easy to do and a smart tip especially during the humid summer weather.  There are other uses for them including using for camping equipment and with clothes storage.

This other tip is how to use your own homemade shampoo.  I haven't tried this myself but it certainly sounds interesting.  If you would like to explore more on how to make your own shampoo check out Queen of Green's blog on secrets to homemade hair care

Discovering the new tools presented this week and finding success in understanding the goals behind the online tools, I have finally felt I am making some headway.  Learning and using the tools is certainly outside of my comfort zone!  However, I am very excited about the possibilities of curating content and how important this role will become to disseminate the realms of information available online.  Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a blog or site that will sift through the information and present to you in a way that is meaningful, interesting and would add value to the type of work you do now or in the future?  I can see this role as a very powerful tool.

Christine


Scoble, R. (2016).  Curating Content retrieved from https://courses.p2pu.org/en/groups/curating-content/