Abstract

This article reflects on the need to re-interpret the control and evaluation of information resources in the current environment of online searching and the information domination of search engines and social networks. Taking into account the recent announcement of the ending of ALA’s Guide to reference, and considering the years before the disappearance of selective directories of web resources like Intute, we attempt to explore the potential of content curation as a conceptual and methodological approach to control and evaluate quality information resources. These resources can be viewed as “continents” with a clear and planned identity where the “contents” experience a kind of dissolution within search engines and social networks. This article proposes the concept of “continent curation” as a method of valuation and contextualization for reference resources within the realm of library and information literacy work.

Abstract

In this article, we examine the need to re-interpret the control and evaluation of information resources in an environment of online searches and information use that is dominated by search engines and social networks. Taking into account the recent announcement of the end of the ALA’s prestigious Guide to reference, preceded several years ago by the disappearance of selective directories of web resources, including Intute, we explore the potential of content curation as a conceptual and methodological approach that can also be applied to the control and evaluation of quality information resources. These resources can be viewed as “containers” with a clear identity, whose “contents” experience a kind of dissolution within search engines and social networks. Here, we propose the concept of “container curation” as a method for evaluating and contextualising information resources within the realm of libraries and information literacy.

Abstract

The role of specialized bibliographic databases in the current environment of online information search dominated by search engines and large multidisciplinary databases is described. The databases usefulness for searching specialized information and the need for intermediation of the resource centres for research are discussed.

Abstract

This paper critically addresses the conditioning factors and considerations underlying the projection of Digital Humanities, as an operational discipline, to the field of educational praxis. The colonisation of this new area of competence consolidates the trend of translation of Digital Humanities, from its consideration as a methodological apparatus at the service of research, to the environment of professional praxis in various areas of knowledge. In order to address this issue, a conceptual delimitation is layed out to characterise the Digital Humanities in the academic environment, as opposed to the common use of the concept of ICT in Education. From this perspective, the development of new epistemic cultures is addressed in terms of the new ways of thinking implied by the flows and channels of knowledge reception in digital educational environments, as well as the need to integrate the Digital Humanities into these ecosystems in order to design and implement tools and sources of information semantically adapted to the needs of the environment, in relation to the different curricular requirements or pedagogical perspectives of each academic context. Finally, a brief allusion is made to how all these issues come together in what is known as “digital didactics”, understood as the set of strategies that inspire the new teaching-learning processes, optimising the pedagogical possibilities offered by new technological developments.