A simple curation A low budget option for

A simple curation… A low budget option for 24/7 resource support in a school library setting – Aquinas Reads By Marj Osborne

‘Curation’ means to select, collect, preserve, maintain, organize and archive. Librarians have always been curators

What is the new ‘curation’?

Why curate? Today much of the information our students need and use is digital: websites, blogs, wikis, tweets, videos, podcasts, images, ebooks, databases, slideshows, graphics, reports, articles, illustrations, clipart and more is found online and/or in digital form and accessed through our computers, on our smartphones or other mobile devices. . Our role as teacher librarians has expanded to helping students and teachers access, evaluate, use and generate information and resources far beyond the walls of the school library media center. so it follows that we would want to find ways to curate information in digital form and help teachers and students learn to do the same. http: //webtools 4 u 2 use. wikispaces. com/What%20 is%20 curation?

So many possible options… Blackboard, Life, Moodle - cost, usability, clunky Network – used for other purposes e. g. school docs Pinterest – tried, but blocked on student network Paper. li or Scoop. it – professional rather than student Edmodo – log in; lost when teacher leaves Wikis - layout Website - HTML Blog … Wordpress is easy to learn; Edublogs is FREE!

Factors to consider: Purpose – curation or creation tool; not just a list of links; niche content Philosophy - just in time NOT just in case! Audience – school or school and general public Accessibility – sign in, feedback, interaction level Cost & ‘doability’ – who maintains your website? Layout – user friendly, branded What does your school allow? (Limitations on mobile phone, Facebook, Pinterest student access)

Dual purpose of Aquinas Reads – student and teacher generated contents, book reviews (posts) & assignment resources (pages)

Pros of Edu. Blogs – Easy to find through website

Pros of Edublogs – Easy to find through Google

Easy to manage content in Wordpress cf. HTML

Easy to include various media

Challenges Maintenance of content currency (Links do not just drop off when dead e. g. You. Tube BBC and Shakespeare’s Animated Tales) Themes – need to trawl to find one to suit; may change or be deleted Can’t add PDFs or Word docs – need screenshots Relative lack of interactivity (but easy to set to moderate comments)

Feedback from students

Feedback from staff "As a real Aquinas-created resource I find that, for my English classes, the students feel that what is there carries more significance than 'any old website' since it is approved by Aquinas staff. ” "The central gathering of pertinent resources for my English classes about the set plays and novels is most useful and time-saving. " Students use Aquinas Reads to support them in doing assignments. The site gives links to other resources and reference. Ability to share with others and to download/upload to computers & other electronic devices as required. The more motivated and able the student is, the more useful they find it. That’s always been the nature of education. However, at least this gives less able and less motivated students an opportunity to experience some success – it up to them if they take this opportunity or not.

Our blog’s reach – approx. 2, 700 unique visitors per month

Value adding… 300+ student reviews added annually Over 500 different books reviewed Over 90 different assignment pages "Beware curation that doesn't add focus, value and insight. That's just noise. ” --Robin Good