Becoming a Resource Directory Curator
Thinking about supporting ASDE by becoming a Resource Directory curator?
One of the most valuable offerings that the Alliance for Self-Directed Education provides is our Resource Directory (RD)! We welcome contributions from around the world and across the movement, but organizing and maintaining a full online library of resources over time is serious work that we always welcome help with!
What is important to know for those considering becoming curators?
You need to be someone who enjoys collecting practical information and editing/formatting it following a very precise set of guidelines. Keeping the formatting consistent keeps the collection easy to read, search, and reference.
Will the RD curators be paid?
No. Being an RD curator is an informal, volunteer position, open only to ASDE members. You are donating your time and talent to a project that will improve the lives of young people, caretakers, parents, facilitators, and advocates of
What is the time commitment?
There is no mandated time commitment expected of Resource Directory curators. In discerning how much time you can and want to contribute, know our commitment is ultimately to quality, not quantity of listings.
Does it matter where I live?
As long as you have a computer and an internet connection, you can contribute to the RD from anywhere, especially when listing non-local resources like books and websites. Certain kinds of local resources will require input from people who live close to them. The team will interact with each other through a messaging platform called Slack, which is also used by ASDE’s organizing team. (You can access Slack via their website and/or by installing the Slack app on your computer.)
Can I be an RD curator if English is not my primary language?
Yes. You just need to have a working command written English to be able to apply established English category labels and tags consistently regardless of the resource language. As we grow towards being able to have a truly multilingual website, we are encouraging SDE organizers who work primarily in other languages to build out and share with us SDE resource websites that center those languages.
I have already compiled a bunch of resource info. Can I just give it to you?
Yes, you can give us raw info, but there’s no guarantee we’ll have the human-power available to process and post it as quickly as you might like to have it broadcast (or as quickly as some reader looking for just the resources you mention might need them). Contributions and leads are always welcome, but the curator role and the help we’re asking for involves people who can find good resources AND enter them into our system with consistent categorization, formatting, and encyclopedia-style descriptions.
How do I get started?
1. If you’re not an ASDE member, join. (If you haven’t officially joined, you won’t be able to access the “Add a Resource” page.)
2. Logged-in members can use the Resources submenu in the main menu [above] to preview the RD and add resource listings. You are invited to try out the resource editor by inputting one resource of your choosing. (Look at the resource categories for ideas.) If the resource has (or is) a website, you can probably use text from the site’s home page or “about” page for the Description field in the RD listing. If the resource is a book, film, etc., you can grab descriptive text from the publisher, often found on sales and review pages.
3. Since you are not yet officially a curator, your listing will be saved with a status of “pending review.” I will review your listing, edit it if necessary, and change the status to “published.” This will help me determine what is needed for curator support and guidelines. When you’ve established your RD curating superpowers (by inputting a few resources that don’t require further editing) someone from the organizing team will raise your access level so that you can edit and/or publish resource listings yourself, including listings maintained by other members. With great power comes great responsibility. We believe in and are excited to collaborate with you!
Ready? Set... Go:
self-directed.org/resources/edit-resource/
PS: Need to see an example? Here’s the listing for Peter Gray’s book, Free to Learn, and here’s one for an SDE-aligned school in Seattle. Feel free to contact us if you still have questions!