Curation is my new fav word

With the flood of information came the responsibility of each of us to critically evaluate our daily intake. We jump from post to tweet to text to tool to (maybe just maybe) printed word.

For over twenty years one of my roles has been the aquisition of resources (sounds so stuffy and academic, huh? We all like to, um, sound hip and not use stuffy big words today…. I mean aquisition— really? resources—- seriously? lol I am being sarcastic now).

Librarianship, education, the media, journalism and numerous other communication forms are no longer what they were just a decade ago. Actually, if you remain calm and resist the temptation to succcumb to fear about the loss of the traditional hierarchy of information and the unknown territory ahead (GRIN- genetics, robotics, information, nanotechnology), it is quite an exciting time to be alive.

Perhaps the librarian and the journalist are both merging with what museums have always called “curation”. I just read “We’re All Journalists Now” by Soctt Gant. I guess we are all librarians, too! Unfortunately, some collections are much better than others. Some media stations are better than others. Some news sources are better than others.

Decisions, Decisions

Oh– for a simpler time.

Then again, maybe simplicity wasn’t all it was cracked up to be and neither is information overload.

Every minute is just another minute to take another breath.

Curation is like picking fruit and sharing it with others in a basket.

Picture from: http://www.atcna.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/curation.jpeg

Obituary for Revision

Revision passed away this morning, after a long battle with social media tools and instant gratification of verbiage. Survived by Writing Process siblings, Editing and Grammar, both now housed in assisted living facilities, Revision is remembered by readers and writers across the globe as having contributed to the accumulation of literature of all genres, the  history of the world, and the knowledge of mankind for over 500 years.

Born in the Gutenberg family and cradled in the printing press, Revision led a life of unmatchable variety and creativity.  Revision worked tirelessly and his work has been acclaimed by experts as one of the greatest, yet most unrecognized achievements on record.

Sadly, Revision’s offspring are tweeting and posting with such reckless abandon–some fear the huge amass of wealth accumulated over centuries, within the Writing Process Family, could be squandered in only a few years.  A world hungry for wisdom could possibly be left in ignorant poverty because disposable words and ideas are now tossed aside along with fast food packaging.

 

A decision will be forthcoming as to whether Revision will be cremated or placed in a digital landfill.

 

 

The Emperor’s New Clothes (you and me)

I am the child who is calling out, “Look!  The Emperor is wearing nothing at all!”

Hush!  You cannot say such a thing.

The emperor, in my analogy, is us.  Those of you scanning blogs, nings, social personal network sites, twitter, and a host of Web 2.0 user-generated content spaces (which I should name but I know people only stay tuned to a post for an average of 12 seconds) may identify with this blog post.  With our smart phones in our pockets and our many computer portals close at hand, we have built up a momentum of constant sharing.  Each of us, if we are honest, has personal interests and goals- one of which is simply to “keep up” with the current information (r)evolution.  We can’t.

Just as mankind always has, we look to each other (friend/follow) for guidance.  And in that quest to stay onboard the fast moving train, we gracefully glide from station to station (phone, computer station, portal, email check, tweet, Facebook post, network check, IM, text message).

Secretly, in our hearts, we think about getting off the train.  We remember days when an hour was spent in contemplation.  We remember things like:
the joy of making something with our own hands
reading a book
baking bread
no ringtones to distract us to some other place

The emperor is wearing nothing.
Nothing at all.
I am taking a break for a moment….just to reflect.

Sharing amongst Friends and Followers

Sharing with me:

I learned about the power of participation from Mean Laura. Social media is only an effective tool when there is give and take. On twitter, she recently asked “In ONE word, what do you expect from 2012?”  I chose the word SHARE because I expect and hope to participate (both give and take) with others.

 

My good friend, the doctor of musicology, taught me that entertainment isn’t all bad and is, perhaps, as important as education.  Am I obsessed with meaning?  Must everything be significant and educational?  Go to thesaurus.com and check the synonyms for educate (edify, coach, enlighten) and entertain (delight, inspire, gratify). Words are just words but we decide the personal links to our lives.  The doctor is all about entertainment and inspiration through music.  He has introduced me to genres of great music that would have been outside my comfort zone and now has his own Internet radio show on xstream radio. What does he do with his love of music?  He shares.

 

And then there’s my artist friend, Zinnia, who taught me that we are all unique.  Technology is only a tool, like a fork.  You don’t need a fork to eat, but it does make it easier and more polite.  You do, however, need to eat.  Zinnia uses technology to create unique expression and to share that with others.  She helped me learn to take a risk with my own unique expression.  She does that much better than I do.  Yesterday, Zinnia let me pick a button from her bag of lovely colorful words…I chose the word share.