Best Uses of Scoop.it by Libraries

On the surface, Scoop.it appears to be a lot like Pinterest. You can take content from anywhere on the web and make it into a "Scoop". You can choose a picture from your source, as well as some text. A user (or rather, a curator) puts these Scoops under certain "Topics", which work much like Boards on Pinterest. Even the layout has it's similarities, but overall Scoop.it seems to serve a different purpose to Pinterest, or at least a different purpose than most people use Pinterest for.

Scoop.it works best when used to create a wealth of links and resources on a certain topic. It is a way for people knowledgeable in a certain field to share not only their own work from various places on the internet, but any articles, blog posts, websites, or reviews that they believe may be relevant or useful.

As such, libraries can use Scoop.it to cultivate an extensive point of reference and research tool for its customers. In addition:

• Libraries can use their own tagging system for all their Scoops. Users can then search within a Topic for Scoops more specific to their needs.
• Topic names are key to letting people know whether their Scoops will be relevant to them.
• Libraries can follow other curators' Topics, whether as a resource for employees on library related information (for example), or to find other Scoops that may be relevant to their own Topics (which they can then re-scoop).
• Scoop.it makes it easy to share anything you Scoop to other social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, so it can save time making multiple posts/links to a certain interesting link.
• To keep a Topic from appearing like a messy bunch of random links, it's important for libraries to add their own "insight" on their Scoops, explaining why the link is relevant and interesting. Here is a good example of how someone might add insights to their Scoops.

Scoop.it will not work for every library. The Topics created must be relevant and useful. Specialist libraries, high school libraries, and any other higher education libraries can curate Topics and Scoops that could potentially be an invaluable resource for its users. This teacher librarian's Scoop.it is a good example of this, with topics that cater to students like their "Middle School Science Resources" Topic.