Content Curation World

Lutz Finger, reports from SxSW on the topic of algorithms, curation and the future, as the skills of content creators, data analysts and code programmers are seemingly converging for the first time. 

Among others, he reports Steve Rosenbaum (founder of Magnify.net) significant own words at SxSW: "...a wise combination of human judgement enabled by algorithms will become the new king of content."

But while there are great new tools, startups and ideas leveraging the great potential of big data and human curation, there is a big, invisible danger, still looming on us.

"The danger is that any algorithm might fall prey to someone trying to influence it.

This might be the ones programming the algorithm or the users. We for instance saw governments trying to skew algorithms by introducing fake online personas (Learn more about the US government persona-management software).
 

But the biggest and realest danger lies in us.

If we believe that there is only one truth and that is the one generated by a black-box algorithm we might be deceived easily."

Informative. Resourceful. 7/10

Full article: http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140320132545-6074593-the-age-of-the-algorithms-sxsw-summary 

See also: www.masternewmedia.org/future-of-search

Image: Bjoern Ognibeni - SxSW

Here is Part II of my look at the future of content curation tools and at what features and facilities they are likely to introduce in the coming months and years.

While In Part I I have looked at:

• Display formats
• Slicing & Dicing
• Micro - Macro
• Recurating
• News discovery
• Ownership
• Credit & Attribution

In Part II I am checking out:

• Preservation
• Private collections
• Full capture abilities
• Monetization
• Content types begging ti be curated
• Beyond news, articles and mood boards
• Specialized curation tools

Here's the full story: http://www.masternewmedia.org/content-curation-tools-future-part2/ 

See also: http://www.masternewmedia.org/content-curation-tools-future-part1/ 

Picture these scenarios:
 

• The Victoria & Albert Museum, its collections depleted by massive repatriation, becomes a travel & tourism guide and international affairs ambassador in an increasingly globalized community
   
• The Freud Museum, in the spirit of its namesake, becomes a provider of mental retreat and therapy (I wonder if the docents will be licensed psychoanalysis?)
  
  

These, according to the 40-page report “Museums in a Digital Age” from Arups, may actually be some of the likely new profiles of prestigious museums 25 years from now.  

The report projects that:

"...future museums will see personalised content, new levels of sustainability and a visitor experience extended beyond present expectations of time and space."

• A rising desire among audiences to shape their own cultural experiences (“Collaborative Curation”)
   
• The opportunity for museum to become “curators of experiences” that extend beyond the boundaries of traditional exhibits or programs, or beyond the walls of the museum itself.

Source: http://futureofmuseums.blogspot.it/2013/11/museums-in-future-view-from-across-pond.html 

My comment: If you are a curator and are interested in exploring and understanding what the future of large collections and museums may look like and which forces are going to be driving such changes, this is a good report to read.

Insightful. Inspiring 8/10

Original Report: Museums in the Digital Age: 
http://www.arup.com/Publications/Museums_in_the_Digital_Age.aspx 

PDF: http://www.arup.com/~/media/Files/PDF/Publications/Research_and_whitepapers/2013_Arup_FRI_MuseumsintheDigitalAge_final_web.ashx 

Gaurav Mishra does an excellent job in explaining and illustrating in greater depth the concepts and ideas introduced in his presentation: Future of Crowdsourcing: Creation to Curation, Search to Synthesis, Content to Things.

The key axiom in the article is that crowdsourcing is slowly shifting: 

a) in terms of input: from creation to curation,

b) in terms of output: from search to synthesis, and

c) in terms of focus: from content to things.

For example when it comes to input, we are moving from crowdsourcing platforms that helped us to create logos or simple graphic designs to new services that will actually curate for us the best design candidates to take into consideration.

A great enlightnening example of this shift, can be seen by looking at one of the many excellent resources listed in this article: ImageBrief, an online service which connects creatives with photographers, who themselves handpick images from their hard disks to match the criteria listed in the submitted creative briefs. 

My comment: Gaurav comprehensive vision and ability to spot relevant shifts and trends is not only uncanny, but also systematic. No matter which article or presentation you look at in his collection you can be sure to find something always of value. 

Excellent. Insightful. Resourceful. 9/10

Full article: http://gauravonomics.com/future-crowdsourcing-trends/ 

It is only a matter of time before trusted aggregators and human curators will become the main sources of reliable information for most people.

In fact, the January release of the 2015 Edelman Trust Barometer shows that for the first time ever, the informed public trusts more search engines - aka Google - than traditional news and media outlets. 

In other words, most people prefer to see a filtered and selected variety of news from different sources, than seeing just the stories coming out of one news publisher.

Even more interesting is the fact that "Seventy-two percent trust information posted by friends and family on social media, blogs and other digital sites, while 70 percent trust content posted by academic experts." as it highlights the fact that Google and search engines may be only an intermediary step in the journey toward a news ecosystem that will see trusted human editors, experts and curators for individual subjects who aggregate and curate content from multiple sources as the key reference points for news.

This is must-read data for anyone interested in seeing where the future of news and search are headed.

Enlightening data. 9/10

original article:  http://www.edelman.com/post/intellectual-property-trust-age-digital-media/ 

Martin Smith, Chief Revenue Officer at Noodle, has written an interesting article highlighting how the future of universities is about to be completely transformed, and how, similarly to what is happening in the music industry, curators, or those organization acting in such role, will play a dramatically important role in the future of higher education.

Key factors that will make this a reality are:

• The price of content will freefall over the next seven years.
  
  
• The supply of learning content will swell.
  
  
• Education will increasingly be personalized.
   

"Universities will be masters of curation, working as talent agencies. They’ll draw royalties and license fees from the content professors create and curate.

In many ways, the role of the best universities will become even more focused on identifying, investing in, and harvesting the returns from great talent."

Insightful. Right-on-the-mark. Must-read. 9/10

Full article: http://qz.com/223771/universities-are-the-record-labels-of-education/ 

See also: http://www.masternewmedia.org/curation-for-education-and-learning/ 

The leaked New York Times memo of less than a week ago is making the round on the Internet, as it touches upon many of the key issues and opportunities any news journalism operation is facing today.

From my personal viewpoint the most interesting aspect of this lengthy 97-page memo is how much curation, news and content curation specifically, are part of the future view being described in it.

Since, even trying read the in-depth curated version of the leaked NY report done by the excellent Nieman Lab it may take you in excess of 30 minutes, I have extracted and highlighted here below only the points that are specifically relevant to curators and to anyone researching the future of content curation within the context of news and journalism.

Here, six key points to pay strong attention to:

1. ...resurfacing archival content. The report cites this passage: "“We can be both a daily newsletter and a library — offering news every day, as well as providing context, relevance and timeless works of journalism.” 
   
   
   
2. ...restructuring arts and culture stories that remain relevant long after they are initially published into guides for readers.
   
   
   
3.  ...consider tools to make it easier for journalists, and maybe even readers, to create collections and repackage the content.
   
   
   
4.  allow readers to easily follow certain topics or columnists.
   
   
   
5. better tagging of the info and content being published.
   
   
   
6. focus on the less glamorous work of creating tools, templates and permanent fixes that cumulatively can have a bigger impact by saving our digital journalists time and elevating the whole report.
   
   

Nieman Lab curated report of the NY leaked Executive Summary document: http://www.niemanlab.org/2014/05/the-leaked-new-york-times-innovation-report-is-one-of-the-key-documents-of-this-media-age/ 

Original leaked copy of NY report: http://www.scribd.com/doc/224608514/The-Full-New-York-Times-Innovation-Report 

97-pages

The future of search may not just be about Google and Bing. In the future of search, believe it or not, there are going to be a lot of people like you and me who will be providing much more helpful information guidance to specific requests than Google could ever do.

I know this sounds probably unrealistic to you, but I think there are now many good indications that this likely going to happen much sooner than you expect.

One of the key reasons why, human beings will start to reclaim this highly valuable search territory, is the fact that in the last few years we have slowly but deeply surrendered our ability to evaluate, decide and select what is "real" to Google's own algorithms, in ways that can only be detrimental to us.

You have probably read in recent times that Google is moving to use "semantic search" rather than the keyword-based approach it has been using until now. 

Do you know that "in semantic search, the decisions are not based on statistics, but rather on world models"?

"How about searching for "Dictators of the World?" The results, which include a list of famous dictators, are not just the judgment of whether someone is a dictator, but also an implicit judgment of choosing individual examples for the concept of a dictator. 

When building knowledge over concepts such as "Dictator" in the search engines, we are implicitly accepting a set of assumptions."

"It is needed to question and monitor these models, for in the past, the significance was only in the human mind. Now, it is also in the mind of the engines that forward us information. 

The search bears an editorial point of view, and its results reflect this point of view. 

We can’t ignore the assumptions behind these results. The invisible judgments will frame our conscience."

Here is a must read article by Zeh Fernandes, that wants to ignite an open discussion about "how the Google monopoly is affecting the way we search for and receive information on the internet".

I think that this is a topic deserving the highest attention and I highly recommend to read in full this excellent article, especially to content curators, information librarians and any other individual concerned with our future ability to vet, organize and make sense of the ocean of information surrounding us.

Alternative search tools and content curators are the future.

Good reminder of what we are eating daily. Insightful. Eye-opening. 10/10

Read this: http://zehfernandes.com/the-evil-side-of-google/ 

I have been testing and trying so many different content curation tools that I have been developing a good sense of what is needed most when it comes to searching, collecting, organizing and presenting information collections online.

In this two-part article I have outlined what I expect to be the most relevant changes and innovations that will be likely integrated in the content curation tools already available out there or that will become the key foundations for new ones that are yet to appear.

My article doesn't pretend to be a guide or a comprehensive catalogue of all the features that content curation tools should consider integrating, but simply an exploratory journey into some of the areas and features where I see a need for better support and where I expect to be surprised the most next.

Follow me in this short journey and add to the comments what are your personal expectations and needs on this front.

Full article: http://www.masternewmedia.org/content-curation-tools-future-part1/ 

It's the second time that I go back to this insightful article by Jonathan Stray, dating back to 2011, but which was visionary and rightful then as it is still now. The first time I did, right after it came out, I didn't actually realize in full how relevant and important was the idea being communicated through it.

On the surface the article talks about an hypotethical Editorial Search Engine as a desirable news app. But if you look just beyond the surface, which is by itself fascinating, in essence, Mr. Stray indicates how useful and effective it would be if news publishers moved on from reporting and into 100% curated coverage of a certain topic, issue or story, opening a fascinating discovery gateway around each story and allowing in time for these streams to intersect and interconnect with each other.

By doing this, we can not only make the news much more interesting and relevant, but we can transform them into instruments for in-depth learning about anything we are interested in.

In this light the future of news could be very much about Comprehensively Informing an Audience on a Specific Topic. And if you stop enough time to re-read it and think about it, this is a pretty powerful and revolutionary concept by itself.

He specifically writes: "Rather than (always, only) writing stories, we should be trying to solve the problem of comprehensively informing the user on a particular topic."

"Choose a topic and start with traditional reporting, content creation, in-house explainers and multimedia stories. Then integrate a story-specific search engine that gathers together absolutely everything else that can be gathered on that topic, and applies whatever niche filtering, social curation, visualization, interaction and communication techniques are most appropriate."

Jonathan Stray makes also a very inspiring connection to Jay Rosen of NYU and his idea of covering 100% of a story which in my view correctly anticipated the niche content curation trend while going beyond it in its effort to explore gateways to innovation. 

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Insightful. Visionary. Inspiring. 9/10

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Steve Rosenbaum (the author of Curation Nation) strikes some pretty powerful chords that fully resonate with my vision and expectations about the future of content curation.

On the assumption that "The speed, scale, and number of distinct elements of produced content will double every 24 months." (call it Rosenbaum law) he rightly asserts that, as if there was already enough content, we are going to be literally inundated by tons of it soon.

In this light content curation is much more than what content marketing providers would have you think (save some time and get more interesting content out). Content curation is rather a socially critical activity that will make it possible for people to learn, find the information they need and indpendently evaluate what product to buy.

Steve Rosenbaum outlines five principles around which the economy of content curation will establish itself. They are:

The First Law: People don’t want more content, they want less. 

The Second Law: Curators come in three shapes... 

The Third Law: Curation isn’t a hobby, it’s both a profession and a calling. Curators need to be paid...

The Fourth Law: Curation requires technology and tools to find, filter, and validate content...

The Fifth Law: Curation within narrow, focused, high-quality categories will emerge to compete with...

My comment: Steve Rosenbaum is right on track with this one and his five principles are 100% correct. If you are into content curation for the long ride, read them again.

Rightful. On track. 9/10

Full article: http://www.thevideoink.com/features/voices/the-coming-age-of-the-curation-economy-building-context-around-content/