Content curation

Abstract

Content creation is no longer the exclusive domain of journalists, newspapers and advertisers. As Clay Shirky1 has famously pointed out, publishing is no longer a job or an industry, it’s a button. We’re all creating content, as originators or commentators, which is then shared and re-shared many times over. The resulting cascade of information requires new content organization and consumption techniques, and the disciplines, competencies and skills of content curation are now critical. This article argues that effective content curation requires real-time technology and tools used by knowledge domain experts who can interpret and add insight to content. It explores the content curation process, introduces five laws for the curation economy, presents models of content curation and assesses the essential curation skills.