Online learners face many challenges – from staying motivated and beating procrastination, to meeting multiple deadlines. And, as we know, e-learning students are already busy; preoccupied with many competing priorities.
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This is a great piece by Heidi Cohen on why your marketing needs content curation and 12 attributes of a successful curation strategy. This is one of the best articles I've seen on this topic in a very long time. As I said, I've seen many pieces on curation but if you're like me, everytime I read about this, I always find something new or am reminded of ways I can polish what I'm doing. Here are some of the highlights......... Intro: Why Your Marketing Needs Content Curation At its core, content curation is like a great editor or blogger who brings his unique taste and understanding of his target audience to his selection of the best content for his readers. **He provides context for the content so that it's more than a collection of information 3 Reasons your content marketing strategy needs content curation: 1. Offering your audience a combination of original and third party content provides a branded context for your work 2. Curating other people's content positions you and/or your organization as a tastemaker in your field 3. Creating sufficient content is a marketing and business challenge 12 Attributes of a successful content curation strategy: Here are a few things that caught my attention: *Has defined measurable goals As part of your content marketing strategy and by extension your marketing plan, content curation needs objectives that are associated with your business. **Targets a specific audience . *Content curation like other forms of content marketing requires understanding your readers' marketing persona ** Involves a community *As with any social media or content marketing, your audience should be at the heart of your content efforts. **Clay Shirky says it best: "Curation comes up when people realize that it isn't just about information seeking, it's also about synchronizing a community" Selected and reviewed by Jan Gordon covering "Curation, Social Business and Beyond" Read full article here: [http://bit.ly/SpJEfQ} Via janlgordon 
Danielle M. Villegas's curator insight,
January 18, 8:39 PM
This is a really good article about content curation. There is nothing wrong with doing content curation, as it provides insight from multiple sources. As this article points out, the trick is curating content that adds value to whatever it is that you are adding the content to. In my case, it's my blog. I've followed most of these guidelines instinctively, because I want to provide quality information to share with fellow technical communicators and e-learning specialists.
Read this one carefully, as it's chock full of good advice. --techcommgeekmom 
Joe Winpisinger's comment,
January 26, 11:31 PM
I see that you are making some of these into almost like blog posts too. Jan Gordon does the same thing. I think I am going to try it out...
Joe Winpisinger's curator insight,
January 26, 11:35 PM
Great post on finding and sharing the right information... Delete the scoop?
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Jan Gordon: I selected this wonderful piece by Michael J. Fern of Intigi because it reinforces the importance of curation and has a lot of great insights.
In this article the author refers to Robert Scoble, who has built an enormous following on several social networks by curating and sharing the latest news about technology and startups.
He says that just like Scobleizer, startups should use curation to catapult their online presence and influence. Curation is a useful approach for all companies but especially for startups:
Here's what especially caught my attention:
a) Thought Leadership If outsiders view your company as a key source of industry informataion, you will quickly build your brand recognition as well as develop trust and goodwill among customers.
b) Hub of Information By being first to market as a content curator in your space and by hosting curated content on your website, you can quickly rise as a primary destination site for those interested in your industry.
c) Collections By creating a bundle of articles, images, videos or websites that relate to a specific them and keeping it updated, this “guide” can become an important resource for social media marketers.
d) Content with Commentary Using 3rd party articles and adding your own point of view you can build a dedicated following. He refers to Daring Fireball, a blog that has built an impressive loyal following of 30,000
Successful curators often employ several of these approaches in addition to producing their own original content
Curated by Jan Gordon covering "Content Curation, Social Business and Beyond"
Read full article here: http://bit.ly/zTGY37 Via janlgordon, Robin Good Delete the scoop?
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This post was written by Romain Goday from Darwineco. The insights and suggestions in this article are excellent because they articulate the problem so clearly. When you can see something in this light, it makes it easier to create a plan of action that is effective. This takes time but it can be done. More about this in the weeks to come, stay tuned. Excerpt: We all want to be sure we are not missing important information. This post explores 7 roadblocks that are an impediment to curation. **What differentiates successful professionals is their ability to take action before competitors so as to mitigate a risk or act upon an opportunity. Here are a few things that caught my attention: **Finding timely and relevant information on an ongoing basis about a specific subject is very challenging Circles of Trust **Today's information consumption is largely dependent on whom users "follow" online: social media connections, news sites (groups of publishers), bloggers and other information providers. ****It is easy to forget that critical information might come from outside those circles of trust. **Most information is available on the Web, but focusing on the right information requires users to combine various tools in very creative ways Curated by Jan Gordon covering "Content Curation, Social Business and Beyond" Read full article here: [http://bit.ly/yMrqbx] Via janlgordon Delete the scoop?
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This piece was written by Evren Kiefer for Paper.li talking about a challenge we all face - information overload and how we streamline our diet. Or can we?
"Content doesn't have a season -- the feast is all year round" Overload or gluttony?
Here's what caught my attention:
“Information overload”, I hear you say, “we know that already”. Is it really the problem, though?
**As Clay Shirky argues in his talk “It’s Not Information Overload. It’s Filter Failure”, information overload is our new environment of plenty and not a problem that needs solving.
****It lies upon us to create internal and external filters to manage our time and attention because they are our most precious resources.
My commentary: I think this is most important for all of us, continually refining our ability to select only what we need and leave the rest. Today everyone is a publisher and everyone has an opinion. Aren't we suffering from meaning overwhelm as well?
I think it's essential to establish some criteria when you select content?
**What are you looking to add to the original piece?
**Do you want to create clarity for others?
**Do you know the subject matter well enough to do this effectively?
**Do you want it to be thought-provoking?
**Do you want to add additional links and other resources who may have different points of view?.
As far as meaning overwhelm,
Everyone has an opinion, I think it's good to have a viewpoint but I think it's important to search for the simple thread in it that relates to your core message.
It's also good to include others in the conversation because two heads are better than one, it helps people see the bigger picture and decide for themselves. That's why I'm asking you:
What are your thoughts? How are you dealing with this? I'd love to hear your comments.
Selected by Howard Rhinegold and Curated by Jan Gordon covering "Content Curation, Social Business and Beyond
Read Full article here: [http://bit.ly/wkij56] Via Kelly Hungerford, Howard Rheingold, janlgordon 
Beth Kanter's comment,
January 21, 2012 1:20 PM
BTW, I like how you frame the "meaning overwhelm." Even if we are power users of aggregation tools and newsmastering tools to bring us more on target content for our needs - we can still suffer from this.
It is the act of going back and forth between scanning quickly - and then going in for a deep dive and reflection. I watch the stream. I check things out and if I find something that is like "wow" - my audience would love this - or "wow" slightly different take or framing on the topic - then I add in my collection,think about it, and share. The thing I'm trying to fight - in part because I curate many different topics. I tend to focus on different streams of keywords or sources for particular topics. But I might find something through serendipity that is on another topic I curate and it is good, but I'm not focusing on that topic now. So, sometimes I grab and have in a holding place until I look at it in more depth. All this to ask you about: What is your practice for curating multiple topics? What do YOU do to avoid meaning overload? 
janlgordon's comment,
January 21, 2012 5:06 PM
Beth Kanter
For me, it all begins with managing my attention and establishing criteria for selecting content that aligns with my brand message and my purpose for being online. This is my compass. My focus for the day that fits this framework and everything flows from there. I love Howard Rhinegold’s work and the mindmap is brilliant. I’m finding these to be excellent resources in helping me to refine this process and I feel I'm definitely on the right track. I have some quiet time before I ever go to the computer and focus on my agenda for the day. It’s like going into a library. Everything you could ever want is there but if you don’t have a hypothesis, you can drown in the sea of knowledge and information. I cover lots of topics but there’s a recurring theme that connects them and it revolves around the evolving world of curation and the many forms it takes; how we have to learn to curate our selection not only of content and information but activity such as social networking as well. It's learning to manage my time and evaluate how I spend it. I ask myself if I do this, will it take me towards or away from my overall plan, the answer always gets me back to where I need to be. As you know, we can schedule priorities and life comes charging in and sometimes I have to shift to do something that needs to be taken care of. Even if this happens, I can get back to my theme for the day at some point. I don't hold the reigns too tightly on this, it's just there to keep me grounded. If I find something as you say serendipitously and it’s off my daily plan, if it’s really a "wow", (again, here I've established some criteria for this, otherwise, I'd find many wows throughout the day), I stop and pay attention to it to see if it’s something I should work on. For me, there’s a certain rhythm to all of this and intuition plays a part. It takes practice and trusting yourself and not over-thinking things. As for meaning overload, there are two things I will do If a piece is particularly heady or difficult to read, I will search for the simple thread that relates to the message I am seeking to put out to my audience. The other aspect is more simple. If I feel that my head is just too full, I have to step away for a few minutes, take a few deep breaths, maybe grab a drink of water. Sometimes meaning overload is just brain overload, and I really need to know when to step away and find my way back. Delete the scoop?
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This piece is from senseiblog. I selected it because it reaffirms the importance of using content curation as a part of your content marketing strategy.
Here are some highlights:
"Content doesn’t always have to be content from your organization, your clients just need to be able to access it through you. Let’s be honest, creating enough content to fulfill demand is a daunting task".
**Quality content is a sustainable competitive advantage
**the ultimate goal of your online presence should be to become a “Go To” source of information that your stakeholders log onto with increasing or sustainable frequency.
**Once achieved, the differentiation this status gives you becomes widespread generating respect, appreciation and business from both new and existing customers.
**in the grand scheme of things, content curation is an essential part of carving out a position for your brand.
**The best strategy is to curate or create content that best meets the need of your stakeholders.
**What’s missing most of the time is the incentive to be social. What is the best incentive?
It is the ability to contribute in a meaningful way
**Great content starts conversations which leads to engagement and relationships.
**by adding context, some examples are links to other sources who provide more insight on the topic, expressing your viewpoint, asking questions, inviting others to comment and continue the dialogue.
Content creation, content curation and the ability to give meaningful feedback on it effectiveness is a highly engaging way to involve hundreds, if not thousands of internal staff.
Curated by Jan Gordon covering "Content Curation, Social Business and Beyond"
Read full article here: [http://bit.ly/wVK9j0] Via janlgordon Delete the scoop?
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This piece was written by Eric Brown for social media explorer.
I selected this article because it reaffirms what many of us already know but it's still good to see this in writing: Content curation and Media Curation (a mix of machine aggregation and Human Curation) are starting to pick up steam.
Here are some highlights:
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.”
The author says and I agree with him:
**"The value will be in the expertise of the curator, people will not read junk, and the best of the best curators will create digital domination with vibrant communities".
There is also a great quote from Fred Wilson's AVB blog in which he details what he would do if he were starting the Village Voice now:
**I would not print anything. I would not hire a ton of writers. I would build a website and a mobile app (or two or three). I would hire a Publisher and a few salespeople.
**I would hire an editor and a few journalists. And then I’d go out and find every blog, twitter, facebook, flickr, youtube, and other social media feed out there that is related to downtown NYC
**and I would pull it all into an aggregation system where my editor and journalists could cull through the posts coming in, curate them, and then publish them
Curated by Jan Gordon covering "Content Curation, Social Business and Beyond"
Read full article: [http://bit.ly/kmZvJg]
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My fellow curator and colleague, Beth Kanter has once again given us a wonderful post full of insights and resources.
****I also want to point out that what she has done in this article is an excellent example of providing "context" and adding depth to what she's saying.
In this piece Beth talks about Transdisiplinarity which means literacy in and ability to understand concepts across multiple disciplines which you will notice, she has clearly demonstrated in this post.
Read full article: [http://bit.ly/ACNJik] Via janlgordon
Beth Kanter's comment,
January 24, 2012 3:51 PM
The 23 tips for blog content is also an excellent example of curated content that is high quality.
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This very timely article was written by Andrew Hunt, founder of Inbound Sales Network, for Business2Community.
It raises an issue between original Content Creators, Content Curators and people who repost these articles.
Commentary by Jan Gordon covering "Content Curation, Social Media and Beyond"
The reason I was moved to do this commentary is because I see a wonderful opportunity to come together as a community and help shape the future of curation. Content Curation is in its infancy and there’s a lot of misunderstanding about its potential. As I see it, it’s a brilliant B2B marketing strategy for anyone who is selling a product or service if done responsibly.
Content Curators are providing a very valuable service for the original author and their own audiences.
Here is what ethical, responsible curators are providing for content creators:
1. Syndicating content and introducing it to new audiences, which is excellent PR if it is being curated by a “trusted source”
2. A good headline grabs the attention of a reader and gets them into the piece quickly. A curator who can tailor the headline to grab their audience will inevitably send more traffic to the original article
3. A curator who is skilled at adding commentary and context to the original piece also broadens the audience of the original work
4. Curation is one of the building blocks of collective intelligence
5. If a curator fully accredits both author and article, authors might have a whole new area of exposure/distribution channel that they wouldn’t have had before
6. People get paid to market and open up new business for brands. Curators do this free of charge while building their own audience. Each party gains. It is a new and exciting form of symbiosis in business
I know that there are people out there who are just taking people’s work. I have spent time adding commentary only to find it has been published on Facebook and other sites without giving credit to me or the original author. They use it for their own gain but I think and hope this will become more the exception as Curation matures.
I like many of my colleagues are building our brands and want to be known for selecting only the best content that informs and educates our audience. We want authors to want us to curate for them and feel that we’re working in concert not on opposing teams. We want them to be happy that we're taking the time to find the essence in what they’re saying and take it to a whole new audience. It is a part of our job to bring authors to the attention of people who would not otherwise know of them.
This was a Q & A at the end of the original article in Business2Community:
(q) How is content curation different from stealing?
(a) Great question! Part of the genesis of Aggregage was my experience with “curators” who would take my content, put it on a page with no link or a link that had an anchor tag that said “link” or something similar. They would change the title and URL for my post on their site. The goal of that person was to get SEO value from my content. They also allowed commenting on their sites. The reason I would write the post is for people to find me and my content and to engage with me in conversation. These types of curators were definitely taking away from that. Aggregage takes a very different approach. Our goal is to be THE launching point out to all the great content getting created on particular topics. We specifically do not have pages that compete with the original source. We only show snippets. We provide full links with the original title. We don’t have commenting on our site. Basically, we are doing everything we can to get readers to go to the original source and engage with the content. Many of the participating bloggers find that we become the second biggest referral source behind Google search.
My take is that we're still in the early stages of curation and while I understand resentment to curators who do not fully attribute their work. However, it is incorrect to assume that changing headlines and URLs automatically means that people are stealing your work strictly for their own gain. That's not how this works with people who are serious about curation.
The end goal and my vision is for us to build community and broaden the audience of the content producers who we promote while building a niche audience of our own who trust that we are cutting through the noise to bring them the few articles they will hopefully find relevant. My community is the authors whose work I curate, the audience I bring their work to and other curators. I appreciate and nurture each relationship equally.
There are so many of you who could add brilliant insights, would love to hear your thoughts.
Read the original article: [http://bit.ly/u89c95]
Via janlgordon
janlgordon's comment,
November 28, 2011 4:30 PM
@bethkanter
Would love to meet you in NY! In the meantime, let's do connect next week and start the conversation, really looking forward to it, lots to talk about:-) 
Liz Wilson's comment,
November 29, 2011 3:17 AM
Jan, Thank you for this commentary - I completely agree with you. I would also emphasise that a curator must (in my opinion) take responsibility for ensuring what is curated is true/honest/accurate/fair, which involves thoroughly checking the source article's credibility.
Great piece - thanks again.
janlgordon's comment,
November 29, 2011 1:08 PM
@Liz Wilson
Thanks for your comments. I absolutely agree with everything you said here. Delete the scoop?
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