Content Curation tools were not created for Web Project Managers and designers, but they are useful nonetheless as important design and strategy tools.
If you are unfamiliar with content curation tools they are tools that allow people to gather content that they discover while Web browsing. Have you ever started investigating one topic, only to stumble upon another topic which leads you far afield of your original search? You really have a use for that final content but it isn't related to the project you are working on. With content curation you grab that content and return to it later for use in a different Web project proposal or a white paper or a blog post!
Marketers are using content creation to boost the search ratings of site by mixing original content with curated content, but they have their uses for Web Project Managers too.
Web project managers often sit with their designer in initiation or discovery meetings and ask clients to tell them about sites they like to get a feel for the look, color scheme, etc. that their clients find attractive. Sometimes just listening to the client describe why they like a particular site provides insight into what the client is looking to accomplish in their project. Many times clients are describing color schemes or layouts but functionality that attracts them to the site.
Often clients will remember they saw this great feature on a Website and try to describe what they want but they have forgotten the URL of the site. No problem, you tell them, just send me a list of the sites. The stakeholder leaves the meeting enthusiastically promising to send URLs of sites they like only to get back to the office and their intimidating to do list and the list doesn't arrive until three or four requests have been made. In the meantime, you have already had to start on the strategy and possible design brief for the site.
In truth, there have been tools for archiving sites for a long time. Starting with RSS feeds, online news mashups, forums, links on blogs, etc. but the new content curation tools make the process much easier. My favorites are part of organizational tools because I like to have everything in one place. Here are two I use often:
Scrivener [www.scrivener.com]: Scrivener is a great organizational tool. Originally developed for writers, you can use it to keep all your Project documents in one location and it has a feature which allows you to import a Web page. You won't lose any project document if you keep them in a Project Scrivener file. This doesn't replace Project Management software, but it is a great tool for small designers and the import Web page feature is a good content curation tool.
Evernote [www.evernote.com]: Another organizational tool which allows you to create notebooks for your information. Scrivener replaced Evernote in my toolkit, but Evernote's new Webclipper also provides a content curation feature.
These aren't intended for content marketing as much as for research documentation.
A lot of content curation products are stand alone and meant for the content to be shared. My favorite content curation tool at the moment is Scoop.It just for the ease of use, and I am experimenting with the WordPress plugin, "MyCurator" for blogging content. You can find links to a number of content curator products in the YouBrandInc article, "The Ultimate List of Content Curation Tools."
There's no need me to redo the list - after all that is one of the beauty's of content curation! And you can find it on my Scoop.It Web Project Management magazine.
Have you found other content curation uses for Web Project Management?
Which do you like best?