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Note from Beth:

This article was curated by Robin Good who used to point out the difference between sharing and curation - and how curation is actually closer to content curation.   Jan Gordon also highlighted the post with a call to action to content curations.     When two important curators here on Scoop.It call an article about our practice to our attention, we should read it, and consider how to apply the ideas to our practice.

Beth Kanter

http://www.bethkanter.org

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Robin Good: If you are interested in understanding how "content curation" differentiates itself from simple re-sharing and re-blogging here is a great article by Chris DeLine.

Great advice for anyone wanting to become an effective content curator: “Whether in tweets, in blog posts, in podcasts, or in newsletters, be ruthless with your attention.

...

Some adopt a strategy of blanket-curation, throwing everything new or fresh or remotely interesting online and letting other consumers make their own value distinctions.

Others assume the role of tastemaker, selectively making the decisions themselves.

Both have their place, but the former contributes to what Jonathan Haidt calls “the paradox of abundance,” which he says “undermines the quality of our engagement.”

How many content-overload websites can you monitor before you become overwhelmed by volume? How many share-explosions does it take before you remove a friend from your Facebook feed? How many Tumblr pages can you pay attention to before the reblogs become a blur?

...

Thoughtful, honest, and caring curation isn’t entirely different than creation.

After all, the topics you choose to research, to blog about, and to discuss with friends all begin with the process of sifting through the media abyss yourself and singling out worthwhile information."

What really counts is to create content that is useful, meaningful and helpful for others, whether from direct hand authorship, or by curating the best existing resources.

Insightful. 8/10

http://chrisdeline.com/curation

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Marty Note
Not much to add to both of these trusted sources. Curation, done the way Robin and Beth create it, is an act of creation on par with any orginal material. I am not sure what "original material" means.

I write an average of 5,000 words a week. Most of those words are resampled or build on themes I care about such as SEO, cool tools or ideas that are becoming memes (walking around on their own). Curation, as done by great curators, follows the same path. Curators often do MORE work since they may filter thousands of articles, comments, posts and ideas to find the one needle to support their content themes. 

Via Robin Good, Beth Kanter