Chapter 1: Introduction

Abstract

In chapter 1 of
Library Technology Reports
(vol. 50, no. 7), “Social Media Curation,” the authors explore current definitions of the word
curation
inside and outside the library community and identify the practice of social media curation. The chapter shares professional rationale and offers an overview of current practice.

Curator: One who has the care or charge of a person or thing.

—OED

First things first—“curation” is a terrible term. It has been used so frivolously and applied so indiscriminately that it’s become vacant of meaning. But I firmly believe that the ethos at its core—a drive to find the interesting, meaningful, and relevant amidst the vast maze of overabundant information, creating a framework for what matters in the world and why—is an increasingly valuable form of creative and intellectual labor, a form of authorship that warrants thought.

—Maria Popova