I ran into an interesting blog post about “digital curators” (in the sense of people who filter digital content). A couple of sentences (quoted below) stood out, in connection with recent conversations I’ve had about museum websites. Well, big, heavy, traditional museums’ websites, that is.
It struck me that it’s this kind of thinking we need in order to make our websites valuable and successful. The concept of “Curator” can be an intrenched and overpowering one in museums.
“Did the Curator okay that to go on-line?” is something one hears over and over, despite that fact that the Curator may have very little idea what that really means, how the content in question is designed and presented, what visitors want or can do with it, how it fits into the museum’s web presence as a whole, or that visitors might actually react with their own input.
“…[Curators] acquire pieces that fit within the tone, direction and – above all – the purpose of the institution. They travel the corners of the world looking for “finds.” Then, once located, clean them up and make sure they are presentable and offer the patron a high quality experience.
Much the same, the digital realm too needs curators. Information overload makes it difficult to separate junk from art. It requires a certain finesse and expertise – a fine tuned, perhaps trained eye. Google, memetrackers such as Techmeme and social news sites like digg are not curators. They’re aggregators – and there’s a big difference.
The call of the curator requires people who are selfless and willing to act as sherpas and guides…
“[Digital] Curators are not editors either… [Digital] Curators don’t need to necessarily be trained in cutting, but in knowing where and how to unearth those special high-quality “finds” and to make them presentable. It’s just as much about the experience and the way the information is presented, as it is the content.”
One commenter tossed in another interesting thought:
“…I was looking through Coca Cola’s new blog the other day (http://www.coca-colaconversations.com/) and I thought it was interesting that the author is their historian/archivist instead of a marketing person. It’s certainly a challenging role, but you’re right, these are more guides than salesmen.”
