Tell a Story Without Words - CM #16
Curation standards. Publishing effective lists. Ecosystem engineers. Tell a story without words. News digests & briefing tools. Free access to ChatGPT4.
Hello, welcome to a new issue of Curation Monetized.
While I have been at it publicly (content curation) for the best part of the last 20 years, this infinite curiosity in seeing things from unconsidered angles and this passion for organizing things, placing them in structures that gives them a tidy order and unexpected value, has always been an important part of who I am and why I do this.
I recall to this day the infinite joy and satisfaction that I felt in my early teens when I presented in class a huge poster visualizing the full insects universe, with all of its species and families. A spectacular infographic for the time.
But even larger than the satisfaction I felt in creating that poster, it was my science professor Giampietro Falaguasta who really made that homework experience become a milestone foundation for who I was to become.
With my total surprise, in the end of the year final grades he gave me a completely unexpected “10” in science. Something very unusual and rare across disciplines, classes and professors at the time, but something that made a non-erasable impact in my life.
That “10” cemented and certified a natural passion I had not myself noticed nor realized until then, and unconsciously fueled many of my later experiences in music, film/video and content curation.
Thank you my Professor.
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In this issue:
Curation Insights
Curate Like a Pro
Curating Effective Lists
Curators as Ecosystem Engineers
Curation At Work - Examples
Tell a Story Without Words
New Search and Re-Search Tools
AI-powered podcasts search tool
Best browser replacement for Google Chrome
Web-enabled AI virtual assistant, search app and editor
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Curation Tools
(for Premium subscribers only)Personal News Digests & Briefing Tools (9)
Free access to GPT4
Real-World Examples of Curation Monetized
(for Premium subscribers only)Streaming Indie Documentaries Catalog and App
Directory of International Travel Requirements
Best Online Writeups Newsletter
Help Me Improve This Newsletter - 1-minute Reader’s Survey
Enjoy!
Robin Good
Key Curation Insights
1) Curation Standards
Recently someone asked me which are my standards as a curator.
I had not consciously thought of this in a long time and I had to reflect quite a bit on it before being able to define exactly what directs my curation efforts.
I realized that the more specific and clear-cut such standards are, the greater the possibility of doing good work that has a recognizable character and depth.
Here the ones I stand by, shared not to be a path to follow, but as an inspiring starting point for you to find your own:
1) To operate exclusively on the basis of quality.
To not accept compromises on what I pass on.
2) To curate things as if:
My reputation and value will be determined by what I share and how I share it.
3) To search and investigate well below and beyond the surface.
Because nothing is really the way it initially looks and because that’s where treasures hide themselves. The non-obvious is what the curator is always looking for. To be able to see across realms, disciplines, cultures.
4) To connect what apparently seems unrelated.
That’s where huge value can be created. How does this connect to that?
5) To recognize that it's not in the technology.
It’s in the ability to see through, beyond and across disciplines and arts, what, most of the time, is impossible to se. It’s also in the lack of need to have or buy any special tool to carry out this life-long mission (though having instruments that help you find, search, collect, organize and showcase your curated gems can definitely help).
6) To curate with a purpose.
To curate not just to make a profit. To curate to create value for others. To curate to realize something specific I love and believe into.
7) To have TIME to curate.
If I am in a hurry, need to post before 12, or have to do x number of things asap to avoid being late, I better give up now on the idea I am "curating" anything at all. Curation requires focus, patience and lots of time.
8) To pay double attention to details.
Attention to details is what separates artists and intellectual leaders from the average man. To cultivate behaviors that enhance this sensitivity helps to create out of love rather than out of simple need.
9) To curate the environment around me.
My room, my studio, my desk, my desktop, my garage and my shelves as if it was a shrine. Because I can’t put order in what is inside my screen contents, if everythiing physical around me is a mess. Order inside, order outside.
10) To stop seeking the newest and latest.
Depth and insights can be more easily found in the old, rare and little-known than in the latest, brightest and shiniest. Good curators pay more attention to the past and to searching in unfamiliar, deserted areas than to the latest breaking news already on everyone’s lips.
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Robin Good
2) Curating Effective Lists
Lists provide a structured format that is easy to follow and understand. They help curators organize information in a clear and systematic manner, making it easier for readers to digest.
But publishing effective and well-organized lists is not as easy as it may appear.
Here a few practical recommendations for content curators tackling this front, based on Beth Kanter personal experience.
1) Short
long lists are tiring and not very useful
2) Categorized
"groups" help scanning and finding what you're looking for
3) Commented
excerpts from about pages as list item descriptions are not very useful, as what makes a real difference in a list is your insight, opinion or evaluation into why that item is in that list.
“Without these elements in fact, just about anyone can take a search tool and assemble the "Best of" whatever software category in a ridicule amount of time, while not really providing anything useful or reliable.
That's the difference between a list “as is” and a curated list.
The list "as is" makes you work more to check and verify everything that's in the list, while the curated one saves you time in finding or reminding you rapidly what is exactly that you need.”
Source: Beth Kanter - “Lists As Part of Your Content Strategy: A Short List of Tips and Tools”
3) Curators as Ecosystem Engineers
The term "filter feeders" is used in nature to describe a group of animals which thrives on its ability to filter organic matter floating around it.
From Wikipedia:
"Filter feeders are animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure.
Some animals that use this method of feeding are clams, krill, sponges, baleen whales, and many fish (including some sharks). Some birds, such as flamingos, are also filter feeders.
Filter feeders can play an important role in clarifying water, and are therefore considered ecosystem engineers."
From Wikipedia:
"In marine environments, filter feeders and plankton are ecosystem engineers because they alter turbidity and light penetration, controlling the depth at which photosynthesis can occur.[4]"
If you re-read this last sentence slowly and look at what it could mean if applied to the field of content curation, it would read something like this:
"In large information ecosystems like the web, filter feeders/content curators and content itself are ecosystem engineers because they:
a) directly influence our ability to inform ourselves effectively and to discern truth from false and useless info (turbidity)
b) shed light and clarity on different subjects which would otherwise remain obscure (light penetration)
c) determine our ability to make sense of our own generated information streams (photosynthesis)."
Inspired by Anne Marie Schleiner - “Fluidities and Oppositions among Curators, Filter Feeders and Future Artists“
Curation At Work - Examples
If you were given an archive of millions of images with the assignment of selecting a few to tell a story that would promote, without using any words, the value and breadth of archive itself, what would you do?
Get inspired:
From Love To Bingo - Agency: AlmapBBDO (2012)
Duration: 1’:07”
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In this one-minute video AlmapBBDO meticulously compiled over five thousand photos to create a mini-film promoting Getty Images.
The film showcases 873 images at 15 images per second, transforming what is actually a slideshow into a video.
The goal in this project was to emphasize Getty Images' vast image library, showing that anyone can tell their story using only the archive.
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Here is second clip follow-up to the award-winning preceding video with the same approach compressed into an 85 seconds video, this time promoting the stock video material from the Getty image bank.
85 Seconds Getty Images - Agency: AlmapBBDO (2013)
Duration: 1’:31”
New Search and Re-Search Tools
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Dexa.ai
AI-powered podcasts search tool. Great way to help with research or find podcast episodes on topics that interest you. Works in English.
Web-based app.
100% free
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Arc Search Browser
Best browser replacement for Google Chrome. It does not track any of your actions or what you visit or look at. Offers AI-assisted search. It’s 100% free and it is highly customizable.
Key Features:
- Spaces and profiles where to organize and save your favorite sites and apps
- Always-on ad, tracker, and banner blocking- Auto-archive inactive tabs to keep things tidy
- Reader mode to minimize distractions
- Split View, Themes
- Website previews in search results
- Integrated ChatGPTArc Search App for Mobile
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Glimpse
Web-enabled AI assistant and editor capable of answering questions, writing and summarizing anything. Uses ChatGPT (including GPT 3.5, GPT 4, and Chat GPT). Can access in real-time internet information. Cites sources. Multilingual. Built-in tools for checking spelling, grammar, clarity, coherence, and structure of any body of text. More info.
Chrome extension
100% free
“Where To Find Great Content To Curate, Organize and Re-use?”
*The Content Finder Toolkit*
Available Now - 100% free
Over 500 vetted resources and apps to find any kind of content (from icons to films - and most of the time at zero cost). It is directed in particular to those who are looking or content that they can re-use in their work.
This toolkit includes a one-of-a-kind, unique collection of tools and apps to find:
News
Newsletters
Discussions
Trends
Images
Videos
Icons
Cutouts
Sounds
Music
Podcasts
Books
Quotes
Documentaries
Alternative Search Engines
plus Public Data Sets and Open Academic Resources (OER)
Get it here.
…and if you find it useful, please leave a review on Product Hunt to help others find it
N.B.: on Product Hunt (PH) reviews allow tools launched on product hunt to become visible to those searching for them.
Curation Tools & Resources
(for Premium subscribers)
In this issue:
Personal News Digests & Briefing Tools
9 apps +
1 app that gives you free access to GPT4
Curation Monetized: Real World Examples
(for Premium subscribers)
Streaming Indie Documentaries Catalog and App
Directory of International Travel Requirements
Best Online Writeups Newsletter