Curation Situations: Let us count the ways

Stefani, Anne

Valenza, J. (2017, July 5). Curation situations: Let us count the ways. School Library Journal. Retrieved from http://blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/2017/07/05/curation-situations-let-us-count-the-ways


In “Curation situations, let us count the ways” Joyce Valenza discusses not only the many definitions of curation, but also the critical importance of creating collections to support student learning, especially in a digital format. She and her co-authors conducted several surveys which ultimately led them to the “curator’s taxonomy” which consists of four parts: collecting, connecting, curating, and contributing (Valenza, 2017). She goes on to argue that librarians are critical members of instructional leadership on campus because they possess a holistic view of the learning needs at their site and/or context:

Digital curation is a translation and amplification of our traditional practice. We study the                specific needs and interests of our communities. We have always been around to tame the information flow, to facilitate discovery and knowledge building. Curation is a direct translation of collection building, critical evaluation, instructional partnership, sense making, meeting community needs, knowledge building and instruction. With a school wide perspective spanning disciplines, grade levels and learners’ abilities, we build collections based on decisions relating to quality, diversity and local relevance. We organize resources for intellectual and physical access and equity and our efforts are portable, collaborative, embeddable, easy to access, customized for their audience and optimized for all platforms.

This article really resonated with me because it captures the important role that librarians play in finding resources for everyone on their campus and/or district. Whether it is a video for a teacher, a language tutorial site for a student, or even an article for administration, librarians have the power to create connections and take some of the heavy-lifting off of the shoulders of students and teachers. However, like the article points out, those resources and collections need to be easily accessible for all so that those resources do not just exist in individual silos, but rather are available for all. Digital collections housed on learning commons websites are an excellent way to ensure equal access for all.