In a recent post, Kent Anderson of the Scholarly Kitchen differentiates the roles of curator and docent. He observes that “Scholarly publishers are very experienced curators — collecting, preserving, and archiving interesting research. We aren’t especially adept or confident docents. We usually only point to what we own.” Hmmm…
Digital docents are emerging everywhere. With ownership “a fading advantage”, Kent ponders the shifting value between collecting and preserving objects and guiding people to valuable objects wherever they exist. I wonder…
- What is the right mix for public libraries?
- Does it vary by constituent, or object type?
- Does increasing accessibility to information diminish the value of safe, comfortable, supportive spaces to explore and consume information?
- If libraries maintain their curatorial focus, do they risk being overwhelmed by digital docents?
- If libraries dilute their curatorial focus, do they risk being just one of the crowd “linking out” — and who would take up the slack to curate and archive local historic materials?
*Original image by Brown University Library
