Reflective Searching

   

    The always exciting task of weeding through the internet to find valuable and credible information is becoming harder everyday because of the massive amounts of information we share. I think that I am a pretty good “information detective”, aka searcher. I like to have a challenge of trying to find something on the internet because I am certain it is all there. In the past there are things that others can’t find and even though I will spend an hour searching I feel like I can find if it is there. As a teacher and a prospective teacher librarian it is important to be able to curate resources to help my students stay streamlined during different projects and research. I like the beginning of, Joyce Valenza’s article, (http://www.schoollibrarymonthly.com/articles/Valenza2012-v29n1p20.html) where she says “Digital curators can prevent oversaturation by filtering and diverting the onslaught and by directing what is worth sharing into more gentle and continuous streams..” This is exactly where I get my motivation to curate for students. It makes sure they are not overwhelmed by fluff when looking for meaningful support. The other quote I like from the same source is, “Librarians can synchronize communities.” This is a huge statement and so important to notice, a curator could provide a whole community the information they need to accomplish a project and providing them with the same information can cause them to all be on the same page. The same information causes a harmonious mesh of knowledge amongst different people!? WOW!  Absolutely, I believe this to be true because any group of people who monitor the same news outlet, will begin to have the same beliefs and the same underlying opinions as the others who monitor that outlet. If librarians are curating for a school community wouldn’t it be awesome if all of the information that was disseminated was homogenous? Then all of the faculty would cruise through different articles or resources and share with their peers causing a jigsaw mix of information that all correlates.   I almost feel as though the search for information on the internet is a game. A hide and seek at times that becomes frustrating which makes it even more intense for me to find it. We are not all a part of the Google Generation. There are still people who do not know how to ask questions to Google to help be more efficient in their jobs. For instance, over half of my students do not realize they can talk to their phone and ask google very specific questions, to which they will be provided an answer. I use Google for timers, clocks, and sometimes math problems (I am not very good at math). One of the largest commonalities between my students and I, is that we are very dependent on Google. Most people have seen the question “who did we ask before Google?” I know the answer because I have been around long enough to see the transition into the Google age. Teachers, books, magazines, and people were our outlet for useless trivia and important questions. The beauty of curation is that it allows you to create a filter bubble in a sense. It provides parameters for other users and keeps them within a certain set of boundaries. This takes me back to the “synchronizes communities” statement. This curation when shared with a community allows the users to roam within the safe haven that has been created. Thus, creating a common knowledge base on a certain topic to which all would become familiar with just by reading, and talking with one another about the subject. On Beth’s Blog (http://www.bethkanter.org/content-curation-101/#sthash.ja79VSw2.dpuf ) she tells us,”content curator cherry picks the best content that is important and relevant to share with their community.” This is the creation of a type of filter bubble.