The document discusses the needs and best practices for effective content curation in higher education. It identifies several key elements needed for effective curation, including establishing goals and understanding the audience, developing a listening and discovery framework, maintaining appropriate editorial sensibilities, ensuring content is relevant to the institutional brand, providing proper context, and cultivating an engaged community. It also discusses various tools that can be used for curation, such as Tumblr, Storify, Twitter, Facebook, and maintaining an institutional blog. The document emphasizes that curation should complement and inform original content creation.

1. #meetcontent
Effective Content
Curation in Higher Ed
Georgy Cohen
@radiofreegeorgy

2. “My role is digital media curation!”
“Am I supposed to know what that
means?”
“Ha ha! I look down on you for not
understanding my trendy jargon!”
“Maybe you could just tell us what
curation means.”
“Fine. Let’s try that. It means um...
um... Is it too late for me to overlook
your ignorance and move on?
http://mcont.co/dilbertcuration

3. “[Curation is] the act of continually
identifying, selecting and sharing
the best and most relevant online
content and other online resources
on a specific subject to match the
needs of a specific audience.
Ann Handley
Co-author, Content Rules
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4. #meetcontent
http://www.slideshare.net/charleneli/understand-your-customers-social-behaviors
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5. #meetcontent
http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/2011-10-30/
Needs for Effective Curation

6. #meetcontent
Needs for Effective Curation
• Goals
• Audience
• Message
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7. #meetcontent
Needs for Effective Curation
• Listening/discovery framework
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9. #meetcontent
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10. #meetcontent
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11. #meetcontent
Needs for Effective Curation
• Listening/discovery framework
• Editorial sensibilities
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12. Jumble
Criteria
• Jumble
posts
should
generally
not
feature
press
hits
(e.g.
ar8cles
on
CNN.com).
• It
should
be
user-­‐generated
content
(for
example,
YouTube
videos,
blog
posts,
TwiEer
accounts,
etc.).
While
a
media
hit
may
be
included
in
a
Jumble
post,
it
should
not
be
the
core
around
which
the
post
is
built.
• Always
cite
sources
and
credit
appropriately
◦ Many
YouTube
videos
–
say,
shot
at
a
cappella
concerts
–
are
hard
to
cite
as
“John
Smith,
E11,
filmed
the
Bubs
singing
this
song”
–
use
your
judgment
as
to
where
cita8on
and
credit
is
required.
• Discovering
that
a
TuUs
en8ty
(e.g.
department,
student
group)
is
on
Facebook,
TwiEer
or
has
a
blog
is
enough
for
a
Jumble
post,
assuming
their
content
on
those
channels
is
interes8ng
and
worthy
of
men8on—consider
ci8ng
a
recent
tweet
or
FB
post
◦ When
pos8ng
about
blogs,
reference
the
subject
maEer
of
a
recent
post
and
include
a
quoted
excerpt
using
the
<blockquote>
func8on
in
Wordpress.
• Students,
alums,
faculty
and
staff
who
created
the
content
(not
necessarily
everyone
men8oned
or
appearing
in
the
content)
should
ideally
be
able
to
be
iden8fied
by
name
(by
which
we
can
then
learn
years,
8tles,
etc.)
...
• Student
groups
should
be
iden8fiable
(e.g.
which
a
cappella
group
is
featured
in
the
video)
◦ This
is
so
we
can
add
the
appropriate
context
of
linking
to
their
website,
Facebook
page,
etc.
• Content
should
be
recent
(e.g.
not
video
from
an
a
cappella
concert
last
fall)
• If
we
are
unsure
of
the
connec8on
to
the
university,
or
the
connec8on
is
tenuous,
do
not
post
• Review
content
thoroughly
(most
specifically,
watch
videos
through
to
the
end)
to
be
sure
there
is
nothing
unfavorable
(e.g.
explicit
language,
alcohol,
nudity,
etc.).
If
foul
language
is
gratuitous,
the
content
may
be
excluded.
But
if
it
seems
appropriate
(e.g.
student
film),
use
your
judgment.
• If
there
are
mul8ple
pieces
of
content
rela8ng
to
the
same
event,
topic,
etc.,
feel
free
to
combine
into
one
post,
while
ci8ng
each
piece
of
content
appropriately

13. Stay human.
Zombies don’t
tell good stories.

14. #meetcontent
Needs for Effective Curation
• Listening/discovery framework
• Editorial sensibilities
• Brand-adjacent content
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18. #meetcontent
Needs for Effective Curation
• Listening/discovery framework
• Editorial sensibilities
• Brand-adjacent content
• Context
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21. Context is super glue
between user content
and our brand.

22. #meetcontent
Needs for Effective Curation
• Listening/discovery framework
• Editorial sensibilities
• Brand-adjacent content
• Context
• Real-time workflow
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24. #meetcontent
Needs for Effective Curation
• Listening/discovery framework
• Editorial sensibilities
• Brand-adjacent content
• Context
• Real-time workflow
• Community
24

25. #meetcontent
Curation v. original content
• Our first priority remains to create
@acarvin
• Curation can (and should) inform creation
Read more: http://mcont.co/acarvin
25 http://www.flickr.com/photos/quintanomedia/6873650178/

26. Curation enables us to
build relationships and
reward on-brand
content creators.

27. Tools for curation: Storify
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28. Tools for curation: Storify
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29. #meetcontent
Needs for Effective Curation
• Listening/discovery framework
• Editorial sensibilities
• Brand-adjacent content
• Context
• Real-time workflow
• Community
• Ethics
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30. #meetcontent
Curators’ Code
http://curatorscode.org/

31. “ Discovery of information is a form
of intellectual labor. When we
don’t honor discovery, we are
robbing somebody’s time and
labor. The Curator’s Code is an
attempt to solve some of that.
Maria Popova
brainpickings.org
www.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/business/media/guidelines-proposed-for-content-aggregation-online.html
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32. #meetcontent
Aggregation
http://www.theonion.com/articles/huffington-post-employee-sucked-into-aggregation-t,27244/

33. #meetcontent
Curation v. Aggregation
• Humans v. computers
• Values and point of view
• Context and meaning
• Aggregation sets the stage for curation
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34. #meetcontent

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36. #meetcontent
Creation

37. #meetcontent
Curation v. Creation
• Our first priority remains to create; don’t neglect
this responsibility
• Curation can (and should) inform creation
• Lessons from Salon - When Salon stopped being
an aggregator, created new content and reduced
post volume by 1/3, traffic increased 40%.
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38. “ This shows how students see
social media as a way of
supplementing official information
about a college with unofficial
perspectives that round out their
impressions of a campus.
Noel-Levitz
2010 E-Expectations Survey
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39. “ While marketers may already be
familiar with the effectiveness of
professional video content alone,
these results suggest that even
greater returns can be had by
combining their use with authentic,
user-generated content.
Frank Findley
Vice President, Research and Development, comScore
“Use Professional or User-Generated Video? New Survey Says ‘Both.’”
http://www.contentmarketinginstitute.com/2012/03/use-professional-or-user-generated-video-new-survey-says-both/
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40. #meetcontent
Tools for curation
• Tumblr
Tools for Curation
40 http://www.flickr.com/photos/lenore-m/2515800654/

41. #meetcontent
Tools for Curation
• Tumblr
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42. #meetcontent
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43. #meetcontent
Tools for Curation
• Tumblr
• Storify
43

44. Tools for curation: Storify
44

45. Tools for curation: Storify
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46. Tools for curation: Storify
46

47. Tools for curation: Storify
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48. 48

49. #meetcontent
Tools for Curation
• Tumblr
• Storify
• Twitter
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50. 50

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52. #meetcontent
Tools for Curation
• Tumblr
• Storify
• Twitter
• Facebook
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54. #meetcontent
Tools for Curation
• Tumblr
• Storify
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Cover it Live
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56. #meetcontent
Tools for Curation
• Tumblr
• Storify
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Cover it Live
• Pinterest
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58. #meetcontent
Tools for Curation
• Tumblr
• Storify
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Cover it Live
• Pinterest
• Blog
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59. #meetcontent
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60. #meetcontent
Tools for Curation
• Tumblr
• Storify
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Cover it Live
• Pinterest
• Blog
• Homepage
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61. “ All content that appears are
on .edu homepages should be
curated. ... When you choose well,
the campus community, parents,
legislators, and other ancillary
audiences will also be influenced
by this content.
Susan T. Evans
mStoner
http://susantevans.wordpress.com/2012/03/03/ill-see-you-and-raise-you/
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62. http://www.missouristate.edu/
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63. Effective content lives
at the intersection of
organizational goals
and user needs.

64. #meetcontent
In closing...
• Curation is treasure hunting
• Context is the secret sauce
• Curation can cultivate meaningful relationships
• Curation is no replacement for creation, but is a
heck of a creative partner
• There are many tools and approaches, none
perfect. Find what works for you.
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65. #meetcontent
meetcontent.com
@meetcontent

66. #meetcontent
Mark your calendar!
Content Audits and Analysis
Rick Allen • May 8, 2012
Cost: $75 FREE
Sign-up: http://mcont.co/mcwebinar3
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