September 2012 Archives

Tom Foremski, SiliconValleyWatcher blogger, has said that "I see curation as a one part of that human essence, a natural human activity that cannot be matched by technology. And curation is where the value lies in improving the organization and usefulness of the Internet."

CurationSoft blogger Jack Humphrey lists the "effects of a well-curated hub as:

• save readers time finding the good stuff themselves
• inform readers by providing context and meaning to the citations and the overall topic-based trackback links from cited sites, which improve search rankings for the curator
• loyal following from readers who have chosen your site to be the trusted 'filter' on a topic-based monetization through traditional methods of paid advertising, affiliate sales, list marketing, or products and services you provide directly"

Content Curator Robin Good notes that "a content curator is someone "who continually finds, groups, organizes and shares the best and most relevant content on a specific issue online". The most important component of this job is the word "continually."In the real-time world of the Internet, this is critical."

Whether you think curation is the future or not, it is a hot trend today. I've written a two-part article on Content Curation and the first part was published in SEARCHER this month. You might want to give it a look. Would you look to curators to help you find what you need?

Ebooks continue to grow in popularity and market share for books. Bookboon.com, which "publishes free and openly available eBooks for students and business professionals," released a survey of student opinions on etextbooks September 11th, finding that almost 97% of students believe texts are too expensive and 76% don't always buy required texts. 58% preferred etexts, believing them to be cheaper and easier to carry around.

Bookboon.com's Thomas Buus Madsen noting that "American students are at least a couple of years ahead of the European counterparts. In countries like Germany, the U.K., and the Netherlands, between 30 and 40 percent of students prefer digital textbooks, but most are still stuck on old-fashioned paper. This is partly because ereaders and e-textbooks are less available" in Europe, Madsen added. "Additionally, publishers, professors, and universities in Europe are less active in promoting and adopting the use of e-textbooks compared to the USA."

I was asked to cover the latest chapter in the Apple - Big 5 Publisher collusion case for NewsBreaks from Information Today and it was published this morning. You might want to give it a look - and feel free to share your ideas and comments!